Richard "Dick" Brockman, age 65, died April 22, 2013 at his home in Platteville, Wisconsin, after a long battle with cancer. He was Linda’s second cousin. I owe Dick a lot. If it wasn’t for him, there would have been no “Across the Fence” column for these past “almost” ten years.
Dick’s family owned and published The Platteville Journal for 70 years. Dick was associated with the paper since he was five years old, and purchased it from his parents in 1971, shortly after graduating from UW-Platteville. He sold it to the Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin in 2003.
Then in January, 2004, Dick wrote to tell us he and his wife, Kathy, were getting back into the newspaper business.
He said, “I thought I would drop you a note and let you know that I have purchased another newspaper. I’m closing today on the purchase of the Linn Newsletter (circulation 2,500) in Central City, Iowa. I will be over there one or two days a week. It’s a lot of work running businesses in two states, but I’m excited about it. I guess printer’s ink really does replace the blood in your veins.”
We always enjoyed Dick’s weekly column “The Gospel According to Eddie Tor.” He was a wonderful writer with a great sense of humor. I would comment on his stories and send him things I had written too.
For Veteran’s Day, 2004, I wrote a story about all the lives lost to war over the years, lost lives, lost potential. Dick was one of the people who received my writings and would comment on them. That same day, I received this message back from him:
“Hey, Howard, have you ever thought of writing a newspaper column? I own this great paper in Iowa. . . I would love to have a column every week. I’d like to run the Veteran’s Day story you sent today.”
I wrote back, “Dick, funny you should ask. I was just thinking earlier this week, that it would be nice to have an outlet or column in a paper for some of the many things I write. I love writing. I would love to write for your paper! I’ll try not to write things that offend people, or that are overly political one way or another. I’ll leave my politics out of it, although I’m sure there are people who will be offended by what I say about war and killing in my Veteran’s Day story. It’s meant to make people think, but some people have a hard time thinking!”
Dick wrote back, “Don’t worry too much about having a differing viewpoint. That’s one thing I really enjoy about your writing. I don’t always agree with you, just as you don’t always agree with me, but that’s healthy. I especially enjoy your viewpoint on Vietnam because you were there. . .you walked the walk. . .and that’s important to me. If a few people are offended, so what! Just keep on writing the way you do now. You are great about telling things from the heart and that is good.”
Thus, the journey began and “Across the Fence” was born.
Dick and his wife, Kathy, were there to help when Linda’s parents, Dale and Virginia Bartling, who lived in Platteville, were having health problems. Dick told us that if he could help by getting them to doctor’s appointments, we should let him know. Dale was his first cousin. When both of them ended up in an assisted living facility in Platteville, Dick picked up their newspaper each morning and took it to them, until Dale was able to return home.
Dick and Kathy were there for us every day, when Linda’s mother was in her final days at the hospital and we were spending long days with her. They came to visit every day and brought food to the house for the family. They were caring, compassionate and concerned for others. Qualities that are often in short supply in this “What’s in it for me?” world.
Dick had a great respect for veterans. He once wrote to me, “I hope the years have brought some peace in your mind about what you went through in the war. Those of us who were not there, will never be able to understand the emotions and feelings of those who were there.”
What I went through in Vietnam couldn’t hold a candle to the battle and pain that Dick went through as he fought to beat the cancer that attacked him these past several years. He was a gentle, quiet man, but a real fighter. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. How true that was in Dick’s case. He knew how to wield a pen and use words to make people think, and that sometimes made people uncomfortable. He said to me, “I think some of your best columns are the ones that some might call controversial, because they make people think. People may disagree with what we write, but they should respect our opinions, just as we should respect theirs. We are not a great country because we all agree, but because we honor the right to disagree.”
Those words say so eloquently, who Dick was and what he stood for. He lived by those words. Even in death his actions and words live on. We can all be better people if we take his words to heart.
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