Pioneering journalist Thom Greer dies

Thom Greer, who became one of the first African-American journalists to run a major metropolitan newspaper, died today at the age of 69 in Cleveland.

Greer, who attended Rider College and worked for the Trenton Times, was a sportswriter and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News in the 1970s.  He spent most of his career at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which named him its top editor in 1990.  He retired in 2001, as a vice president of the newspaper company. 

A great story teller who loved covering basketball and boxing, Greer also was one of the first black journalists to run a department of any sort at a major newspaper, when he served as sports editor of the PD in the 1980s.

The Plain Dealer has the definitive obituary tribute to this notable editor.