Charlie Waters, newsman, mentor and storyteller, dead at age 66

Charles R. “Charlie” Waters Jr., a veteran newspaperman, died Wednesday at his home in Henderson after a battle with lung cancer. He was 66.

Waters, the son of a newspaperman, spent more than 40 years in journalism, leading the newsroom at many stops along the way. He worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal until his retirement two years ago.

“I’m happy that I got to work in the golden age of journalism,” Waters said about a month before his death. As he looked back on his career and the changes in the newspaper industry, he talked about having the resources and the opportunity to tackle difficult stories, to cover communities in depth and to hold public officials accountable.

“On top of that, we got to tell some great stories,” he said.

It was always about the story for Waters, who mentored reporters and editors in newsrooms across the country. On the wall of his office at the Review-Journal was a sign telling those seeking his help polishing their craft that they couldn’t enter unless they brought him a good idea for a story.

“Charlie left his mark on our staff through his great storytelling skills,” said Review-Journal Editor Mike Hengel. “As an editor, he could improve stories in many ways, like taking complex issues and making them understandable and interesting. He was a great mentor over the years to many of our staffers — a journalist’s journalist, and his influence continues to be felt by our writers. As a result, our readers benefit by his contributions.”

Among his many newspaper jobs, Waters guided newsrooms as executive editor of the Fresno Bee and the Reno Gazette-Journal and served in the same post at the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine. He worked as an editor for the Las Vegas Sun, St. Petersburg Times and served as editor and publisher of The Prescott Courier and the Mohave Valley News, both in Arizona.

Waters was born Dec. 22, 1947 and grew up in Kingman, Ariz., where his father was co-owner of the Mohave County Miner. He worked there and at various Arizona daily and weekly newspapers before graduating from the University of Arizona with a journalism degree in 1969. He was an inductee in the inaugural class of the school’s journalism hall of fame in 2001.

He taught at the University of Kansas School of Journalism and served as a trustee for the school’s William Allen White Foundation for a dozen years. He taught seminars for reporters and editors and served as a judge for many journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

“Charlie was an an old-fashioned journalist who believed every good story ate shoe leather. You keep knocking on doors until you get the answers,” said Drex Heikes, who worked with him at the Las Vegas Sun and the L.A. Times. “I never met a journalist of greater integrity. He was Howard Roark in real life. He would and did quit jobs before he would as much as smudge an ethical line—even if all his colleagues thought he was being extreme.

“He also was a terrific wordsmith, an editor who loved to teach and taught many young reporters the art of narrative storytelling. He was the last of a breed who made furniture with their bare hands.”

One of the reporters Waters worked with in Fresno was John Branch, now a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the New York Times.

“I have never met anyone who loved journalism as much as he loved journalism,” Branch said. “He loved the art of the story. He loved deep investigation, but he also loved a great yarn. He loved to see others do it well. It was never about him. He was an original.”

Another writer Waters helped was David Mas Masumoto, an organic farmer in Del Ray, Calif., who writes a column for the Fresno Bee and has written several award-winning books, including “Epitaph for a Peach.”

“Charlie was an old-fashioned mentor who let me know when my writing was weak or lazy. But we shared lunches and stories like friends,” Masumoto said. “Once, when I pitched a story, at first he grinned and I felt relieved; then he said I was headed in the wrong direction. He was right.

“The best advice he shared about writing a newspaper column: ‘It’s like writing a letter to a good friend.’”

J. Keith Moyer, a University of Minnesota professor, was the publisher of the Fresno Bee who hired Waters to run that newsroom. He praised his leadership, impeccable ethics and commitment to storytelling. Moyer said Waters could help young reporters and reinvigorate those long-in-the-tooth.

“He really cared about people. He was this Western tough guy, but he had a heart of gold,” he said. “He had a wonderful sense of humor. He could really spin a yarn. He told as good of a story as he wrote.”

Waters also loved music.

In 1963, Waters and his friends, including Bob “Boze” Bell, formed Kingman’s first rock ‘n’ roll band.

“We got our name,” Bell recalled, “when Charlie and I were walking out of history class and in the hall, we saw the Exit sign and Charlie said, ‘Why don’t we call ourselves the Exits, because when everybody hears us play, that’s where they’ll go.’”

He continued to sing in a smoky baritone and play guitar, whether it was in living rooms, at parties or on a deserted newspaper loading dock with co-workers who shared his love of music.

He is survived by his wife, Linda; two daughters, Jennifer Goeringer of Highland, Utah, and Jolyn Gagnon of La Quinta, Calif.; a son, Charles “Rich” Waters of Pollock Pines, Calif.; a brother, John Waters of Boulder City; a sister, Julie Lopez of Kingman; and five grandchildren.

Memorial services are pending.