University Daily Kansan/Wednesday, Aug, 19, 1987
7
Journalism professor had great influence
By NOEL GERDES
Staff writer
John B. Bremner, retired professor of journalism who died July 30, had a profound influence on generations of journalism students and professionals through his high standards and love of language, colleagues and friends said recently.
"He's the reason I am an editor today," said Greg Hack, news editor at the Kansas City Times. "When I started in journalism I figured I would be a reporter. He taught me the importance of editing. That it was something worthwhile."
Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs and former dean of journalism, said, "His goal was to be the best teacher of editing in the country, and I believe he was."
Dr. Bremner, teacher of journalism at the University of Kansas for 16 years, professional journalist and newspaper consultant, died in Ponce Inlet, Fla., of cancer at age 66. He is survived by his wife, Mary, of Ponce Inlet, and a sister, June Rowe, of Sydney, Australia.
Dr. Bremner — 6 feet 5 inches, heavyset and white-haired — often intimidated students and colleagues, not only with his size but also with his booming voice and biting wit.
Michael Totty, a former student who is now a reporter at the Dallas bureau of the Wall Street Journal, said, "Class was so demanding. I remember leaving every day with a headache."
but was best known as a teacher of editing.
He thought the use of correct, precise language was a dying art, and it was his life's work to save it from extinction.
"For ungrammatical writers and speakers, there ought to be a sin tax," he wrote in his 1980 book, "Words on Words: A Dictionary for Writers and Others Who Care About Words." He also wrote "HTK," a book about headlines, which was published in 1975.
Although Dr. Bremner was serious about his work, he could entertain his audience in extraordinary ways, said Mike Kautsch, dean of journalism.
mike Husband, Dr. Bremner had one routine, Kautsch said, that was designed to explain what he called the thrill of
monotony ' - the satisfaction that came from doing the same job well over and over.
In the routine, Dr. Bremner would take an imaginary child in his arms, throw him up in the air and catch him. He repeated the sequence again and again, giggling for the child and saying, "Do it again. Do it again."
Kautsch said, "He tried to make his students appreciate how childlike they needed to be when it came to editing."
Dr. Bremner came to KU in 1969 and two years later received the HOPE (honor for Outstanding Progressive Educator) Award from KU seniors and the Amoco Distinguished Teacher Award. In 1977 he was named Oscar S. Stauffer professor of journalism. Before he retired in
December 1985, the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, recognized Dr. Bremner with its Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award.
Not limited to the university classroom, Dr. Bremner took his expertise to U.S. newsrooms at the urging of a friend, Gerald M. Sass, vice president of education at the Gannett Foundation.
Gannett hired Dr. Brenner to conduct 52 editing seminars in 44 states in 1980-81 and 1983-84, Sass said.
The Gannett Foundation has made a $10,000 gift to the John B. Bremer Memorial Fund for the school, which was created at Dr. Bremer's funeral. He was buried in Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery.
Kautsch said several former students had made contributions to the fund, ranging from $25 to $500. A use for the fund has yet to be determined.
Dr. Bremner was born Dec. 28, 1920 in Brisbane, Australia. He earned a bachelor's degree in theology in 1941 at Propaganda Fide University in Rome, a master's in journalism in 1952 at Columbia University in New York and a doctorate in mass communications in 1965 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
In 1943, he was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church and remained a priest for 25 years. He left the priesthood in 1968 and married Mary McCue.
Colleagues share memories of John Bremner
John B. Bremner, Oscar S. Stauffer distinguished professor of journalism, retired in 1985. He died July 30.
Jacki Kelly/Special to the KANSAN
He taught journalism at the University of San Diego and the University of Iowa before coming to KU.
I was prepared to like John Bremner before I ever met him. The incoming new dean of the School of Journalism, Ed Bassett, had persuaded me, even before he had assumed his position, that there were two absolutely top people that he wanted to attract to the KU faculty: one was Del Brinkman (who today holds the position I then occupied in the University administration) and the other was John Bremner. Bassett, I had already discovered, was not given to exaggerations. So when he told me that Bremner was simply the best editing teacher in the country, I believed him. Fortunately, the University's budget was not nearly as tight then as it is today, and thus I was able to tell Bassett to do what he could to bring "the other two Bs" to KU.
I remember very clearly my first encounter with John Bremner. His first words to me were: "You, sir, have succeeded in finding the best man in the profession to be your new dean of journalism. Tell me how you did it and then tell me why I should follow him here!" In my years as an administrator I had interviewed countless prospective faculty members but never had I encountered anyone who was as open, as direct, yet as appealing as the big man who now sat in my office.
I would soon learn that this was no pose, that this was the essence of John Bremner. During those years at KU I received, as I am sure many others did, numerous notes from him, brief, to the point, exquisitively literate — always concluded with his characteristic closing: "Peace!" That last, I soon learned, was as honest a sentiment as was everything else about the man.
Francis H. Heller is Roy A. Roberts distinguished professor of law and politician, former dean of the college and vice chancellor for academic affairs from 1967 to 1972.
equally assaulted, although, bless him, he never doubted who was right and who wrong. All of this was served up with more wit than was fair. Second, I recall John's passion for our English language. Words were never just words. They had Latin and Greek roots that created nuances that were as important to him as pay raises are to the faculty. Fortunately, he left us a book on words that partially softens the blow of his death. Third, although a naturalized U.S. citizen, he was Australian to the core. They're good blokes, the Aussies. They talk a bit funny, as John did, but they're good blokes. And John was one of the best. Good on you, mate, we'll miss you.
Jon premer was a complex man; consequently, he left a complex trail of impressions in his wake. As a colleague and friend, three in particular remain with me. First, John was exhilarating company. A social evening or a working lunch in John's presence was never dull. He was highly opinionated; he liked to argue; he would challenge your fundamental beliefs; he was quite prepared to demonstrate why you were absolutely wrong in your cockamany views. He was also willing to be
O. Maurice joy is Joyce C. Hall distin-
gued professor of business adminis-
tration
The message was waiting for us when we reached my brother's home in California John Bremner was dead. Though the message was not really a surprise, it was still a shock, and it was hard to comprehend in a way. John had been such a force in my life, and he had been almost a legend in the William Allen White School of Journalism (he would have resented my adding "and Mass Communications").
He was the best editing teacher in America, and he had been instrumental in our school being rated one of the best in the land. He had been here since 1969, and he had been good from the beginning. He came here with his wife, Mary, and they were a delightful addition to our faculty family. Mary is one of the best people who ever lived, and she complemented well this big, funny, brilliant, overwhelming, sometimes arrogant man.
John and I didn't always get along. He had a wit that could chop down half the faculty in a single meeting. He had a marvelous capacity for getting to the heart of things. He never complained. "How are you, John?" "Wouldn't change a thing."
His editing classes weren't hack editing classes. He was a professor of language. He knew English, but he also knew Greek and Latin and some of the others, and he turned his students into little mimics who angered me when they told me I was wrong about something. He made us worry about "that" and "which," about "if" and "whether," about "hopefully."
be with the wouldn't worry about my using a preposition "with which to end a sentence.") In his gusty style he made me think of things I had read about Thomas Wolfe, and it seemed singular that this larger-than-life professor so resembled Orson Welles, that larger-than-life man of the movies.
John Bremner was a great one to
John was an Australian, and he was a bit of an elitist about education, and he was a classicist, and he told good stories, and he loved golf, and he knew the words to every song Fred Astaire ever sang in a movie. John wrote books that became standards for journalism students. He went out and educated the press of the land in his Gannett seminars, and he was a distinguished professor who ranked with; the best on this campus
— or any other campus. He was one of the best professors American journalism has ever had, and I think about him many times each day, and I'll miss him for the rest of my life.
Calder Pickett is Clyde M. Reed distinguished professor of journalism.
I am reluctant to enter in writing my thoughts about my dear friend, colleague and mentor, John Bremner, because surely in a posthumous tribute the prose, the grammar, and the use of the language should reach a level of precision that honors him. I simply cannot achieve that level — nor can few, if any, others. I write now, however, confident in the know.
ledge that John would be distressed if his achievements or style in any way inhibited the use of the written word. On the contrary, he gave the full measure of his monumental energy and talents to stimulating each of us to effect our human purpose through precise and artful written communication. I, like so many others, have inherited from John Bremner a great legacy of language. As I craft opinions that affect the lives and fortunes of many people, I am constantly aware of John Bremner's admonitions about simplicity and clarity. If I have succeeded in eliminating a little 'legalese' (a word that he deplored), it is because of a thundering lecture that he delivered to me.
Alas, he is the one person to whom I am certain I have not dispensed justice when I credit him as a mentor in his impact on my writing. Nevertheless, his spirit will always linger among any words I write. I will have to supply for myself the pithy comments he would have made and remember fondly the booming, drawing "D-a-hling — don't use that word that way." Deanell Tacha is a U.S. Circuit judge and former vice chancellor for academic affairs.
but they aren't. They are intellect.
Other times, they are, indeed,
frowning. They are irritated at,
at what they see it a writer,
who as their Teacher put it,
fails "to stay the surge of literary
barbarian."
If you are lucky, you know one. They are so much alike. Yet, they are so different, at least from the others who didn't have their Teacher.
but they aren't. They are intense.
As they read, they often move then lins.
They sit at a terminal, sometimes looking as though they are frowning.
And they read a lot. They have discovered the thrill of monotony. They will teach writers to do the same.
They are the guardians of a newspaper's character and reputation, he told them. They are Univacs. Their Teacher taught them to "know something about everything and where to find out everything about anything."
They care so much about what they do. Noe cares more.
They lack arrogance; their Teacher detested it. They have confidence; their Teacher instilled it. They have humility; their Teacher caused it.
They wear a crown that is envied by all who do not have one, placed on their head by the master Wordsmith. The crown carries a responsibility.
They must guard our language. Doing that consistently is honest and pure and noble and true because Dr. John B. Bremner told them so.
gance.
They are Bremnerites.
They reflect his intellectual elegance.
They are Brennerites.
Richard Thien is executive editor of the Iowa City Press-Citizen and former KU Gannett professional in residence.
Memories
ikulele
But with his help I learned better. Oh. I learned!
I missed it on a test on the first day of Professor John B. Bremner's class. I got a 53 percent on that one. But with his help I learned better.
Professor Bremner, a tower of a man in wisdom and in stature, taught us about words and how to use them. He taught us about language and where it came from and the importance of learning such things.
But that is not all.
He taught us that some things are worth believing in and that life is connected in some essential, ethereal way. And he helped us see the connections in the 80-minute tours of his mind that some called merely class periods.
He made the journeys hard work.
The questions could come from anywhere.
He would stalk around the room, pinning us down with them.
He affected the lives of all who knew him, with bellows of "Barbarism!" or words of encouragement. The lives were enlightened, and some were shaped.
Mine was shaped. And I know it always will be.
Millennium
The word makes me smile and remember Professor John B. Bremner. Millennium is one of many words that reminds me of his booming voice and intimidating manner that made for dramatic classroom acts. His style of teaching, although harsh at times, was accompanied by a twinkle in his eyes. I saw only the twinkle.
Juli Warren is managing editor of the Kansan. She was an editing student of John Bremner's his last two semesters at KU.
Millennium
Anyone who sat in Professor Bremner's class knows that millennium has two n's. We also know how to spell Volkswagen and sacrilegio. We know how to use the semicolon. We know about golf, about life, love and peace.
We learned, but most importantly, we remembered.
My first editing class with Professor Brenner in spring 1985 began with a humbling editing test, which three-fourths of the students, myself included, flunked. The highest grade was a C. I was embarrassed after that test. But it motivated and challenged me to learn. I did. I still do.
Brenner's words laid the foundation for my thinking as a reporter: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
check it out.
Jennifer Benjamin is editor of the Kansan. She was a student in John Bremner's editing classes.
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