The memory of S. Gale Denley, former publisher of the Calhoun County Journal in Bruce and an Ole Miss professor, was honored with a plaque for his commitment to “Friends of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED)” Thursday at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.

Denley died at the age of 72 in August 2008.

Sid Salter, perspective editor for the Clarion-Ledger described his relationship with Denley during the keynote speech.

“Gale and I were business partners for a long time,” Salter said. “We were also the very best of friends. I felt and I believe Gale felt we were brothers by choice.”

In January 1989, Denley was nearly killed by a car accident that occurred about five miles south of Oxford, Salter said.

“Gale was cruising along to his next appointment in what he fondly referred to as his ‘1983 Buick land yacht.’” Salter said. “A drunk in an AMC Pacer hit Gale head on and that big land yacht crumpled around him.”

Denley had to be airlifted to The MED for emergency surgery.

Although the accident contributed to health problems that plagued Denley for the rest of his life, he didn’t let it dampen his spirit.

“Gale was a better man after the wreck,” Salter said. “He’s the only person that I ever knew that went into an experience like that and came out the other side a better human being.”

Salter said Denley became kinder, more patient and less selfish, because he realized that he had been given a second chance.

Traci Mitchell, interim director of student media, worked with Denley for 14 years and remained friends with him after his retirement. Mitchell said she considered Denley not only a friend but like a second father.

“He provided so many opportunities to learn new things, and this is key: he let me do them,” Mitchell said. “If I made mistakes, I learned from them. Like he did for so many others, he mentored and guided me through so many of life’s challenges.”

Denley believed strongly in a free student press and felt students learned best from a hands-on approach to journalism, she said.

He felt students learned more about becoming better journalists and learned many tough lessons by being held accountable for what they published and broadcast, Mitchell said.

“Mr. Denley’s vision, hard work and dedication laid a strong foundation for growth, not only for the paper but for all entities within the (Student Media Center),” Mitchell said. “A lot of sweat equity by hundreds of students, as well as faculty and staff advisers, have made it possible to continue his vision and take SMC to new heights.”

Denley was also respected and admired by his fellow journalism faculty members.

“He is remembered as a colleague you could count on, who taught us and his students a lot about the business of community newspapers without really trying,” Jeanni Atkins, associate professor of journalism, said. “He was a treasure trove of information. So many, many people developed such great respect for him and miss him.”

Atkins said how helpful and accessible Denley was to students.

“He had an open door policy and always had time for students,” Atkins said. “Those who studied with him and worked on The Daily Mississippian are legion who credit him with teaching them so much about the newspaper business.”

Denley taught journalism at Ole Miss from 1963 to 1996. Before teaching at Ole Miss, he taught journalism for a year at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Denley was publisher of The Calhoun County Journal, a paper he and his father established in 1953.

Throughout his career, the Coffeeville native wrote a nationally syndicated column on small business and advertising and a statewide syndicated column on politics and general interests.

“He wrote with humor and had a folksy approach that resonated with his readers,” Atkins said. “He garnered quite a following of people who read and enjoyed his insights into life and people.”
The Student Media Center was named for Denley in 2003.

“Mr. Denley was more like an institution rather than a person. He was the Student Media Center, and the Student Media Center was the newspaper,” Samir Husni, journalism department chair, said. “Mr. Denley focused his career until his retirement to building one of the finest college journalism newspapers this country has ever seen.”

Friends of the MED is a grassroots organization of Mississippi residents dedicated to preserving access for Mississippians to the MED.

The Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the MED is the only Level 1 trauma center that serves North Mississippi. Level 1 trauma centers provide the highest level of surgical care to patients and are staffed by medical professionals 24 hours a day.

The plaque was presented to Denley’s wife Jo Ann Denley and will be displayed in the "Wall of Fame" at the MED.