Columnist Neal part of dying breed.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Tim Gleason For The Register-Guard

`Hey, Judge."

"Hey, Congressman."

"Good to see you."

"What a shock."

The Chicago political establishment and hundreds of friends, colleagues and loyal readers gathered this week in the pews of St. Patrick's Church in downtown Chicago to remember Steve Neal, the longtime Chicago Sun-Times political columnist and 1971 University of Oregon journalism school graduate.

By the time the Rev. Andrew Greeley began the requiem Mass, the church had filled to capacity. Some in attendance had lunch with Neal on a regular basis; he was famous for lunch. Some in attendance were powerful. All were his friends. And all read his columns three times a week for almost 18 years.

At the viewing a day earlier, hundreds of people stood in a line that began to form a half hour before the funeral doors opened. Four hours later, the line still stretched out the doors.

Neal, who was born in Coos Bay and attended high school in Salem, began his journalism career in Portland at the Oregon Journal. He worked for the Philadelphia Enquirer from 1972 to 1979, when he became the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Chicago Tribune.

Neal joined the Sun-Times in 1986 and became an institution. His political column was required reading for anyone in Chicago who cared about politics.

Over the years, he was credited for uncovering political wrongdoing and for swaying elections. People believed and respected him. One reader standing in line at the viewing said Neal had great influence because "he wrote facts." Readers knew that his columns were based on solid reporting, she said.

Only 54 years old, he had just finished his 11th book. In addition to three columns a week, he also wrote history - including "Dark Horse," widely regarded as the best biography of 1940 GOP presidential nominee Wendell Willkie. His latest book, on the 1932 Democratic Convention, will be out later this year. He mailed the final proofs to the publisher shortly before he died Feb. 18.

Neal had a point of view and pulled no punches, yet politicians across the spectrum respected him. Former President George Bush asked him to be his press secretary. Jesse Jackson, a longtime friend, told the Sun-Times that, "You may not agree with what he wrote in an article, but you knew he wrote the article with integrity."

There are fewer and fewer political columnists like Steve Neal. In this age of shouting heads on television, increased reliance on syndicated commentary in newspapers and the emergence of blogging and other forms of instant political analysis on the Internet, it is fair to ask whether the era of the hard-hitting local political columnist is coming to an end. In too many newsrooms and media company headquarters, the conventional wisdom is to give readers more entertainment, more "news they can use," more lifestyle coverage. Who cares what happened at City Hall?

Steve Neal's career is strong evidence that readers do care, and that good political journalism makes a real difference. He will be missed. We can only hope that others with an equal passion for politics and a commitment to serving the public interest will have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.

Tim Gleason is dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.