James John Klobuchar ( ; April 9, 1928 – May 12, 2021) was an American journalist, author, and newspaper columnist from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Klobuchar was regarded as a regionally well-known and admired local sports and politics reporter during his long career working for the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Klobuchar notably was the first reporter in the country to declare

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

's victory over

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

in the

1960 United States presidential election The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic United States Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent V ...

. He was the father of Minnesota

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and former

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...

attorney

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minne ...

Early life

Klobuchar was born in

Ely, Minnesota Ely ( ) is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 census. Located on the Vermilion iron range, Ely once had several iron ore mines. It is an entry point for campers and canoers into the Bo ...

, the son of Mary (Pucel) and Michael Klobuchar. His grandparents were all from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, and the surname Klobučar means "hatter" in Slovenian. He earned an

Associate of Arts degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

from Ely Junior College (now

Vermilion Community College Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It is ...

) in 1948 and a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1950.

Career

Klobuchar served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1950 to 1952 and became a corporal. He worked as a wire editor for the '' Bismarck Tribune'' in North Dakota in 1950 and as a legislative reporter from 1952 to 1953. He worked as a staff writer for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

in Minneapolis from 1953 to 1961 and with the ''

Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' from 1961 to 1965. He became a columnist for the ''

Minneapolis Star The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' starting in 1965 where he covered sports and politics.''Who's Who in America, 1976–77'', Marquis Who's Who, p.1743

Personal life

Klobuchar married Rose Heuberger August 7, 1954 and had two children, Amy and Meagan. They divorced in 1976. He also was noted for his struggles with alcoholism. During much of his life Klobuchar was an avid cyclist, and led the "Jaunt With Jim" group bicycle ride for 39 years.

Health and death

Towards the end of Klobuchar's life, he had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

.The Plague Year
by Lawrence Wright, in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''; published December 28, 2020; retrieved January 1, 2021 He died at a care facility in

Burnsville, Minnesota Burnsville () is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city lies on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nearby subu ...

on May 12, 2021, at age 93. Amy Klobuchar announced the death, saying about her father, "He loved journalism. He loved sports and adventure. And we loved him." Minnesota Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Wal ...

also paid tribute, stating "Our press community lost a giant in Jim Klobuchar's passing." Plans were also made to bury him in the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Books

* ''The Zest (and Best) of Klobuchar'', Mark Zelenovich, Inc., 1967. * ''True Hearts and Purple Heads'', Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, 1970. * ''Tarkenton,'' New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Co-author,

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

. *''Will the Vikings Ever Win the Super Bowl? An Inside Look at the Minnesota Vikings of 1976, with Jeff Siemon's journal,'' New York: Harper & Row, 1977. * ''Will America Accept Love at Halftime?'', Ross & Haines, 1992 * ''Minstrel: My Adventure in Newspapering'', Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. * ''Pursued by Grace: A Newspaperman's Own Story of Spiritual Recovery'', Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998. * ''The Cross Under the Acacia Tree: The Story of David and Eunice Simonson's Epic Mission in Africa'', Minneapolis: Kirk House Publishers, 1999. * ''Knights and Knaves of Autumn: 40 Years of Pro Football and the Minnesota Vikings'', Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, 2000. * ''Sixty Minutes with God'', Kirk House, 2003. * ''Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset'', Nodin Press, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klobuchar, Jim 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male journalists American people of Slovenian descent American sportswriters Amy Klobuchar Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Journalists from Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota Neurological disease deaths in Minnesota People from Ely, Minnesota Star Tribune people The Christian Science Monitor people United States Army non-commissioned officers University of Minnesota alumni Writers from Minnesota 21st-century American male writers