Denver Press Club Hall of Fame

The Denver Press Club Hall of Fame honors journalists and communicators who have given tremendous service to the Club or had a distinguished career in Colorado journalism. The Club inducts a handful of members into the Hall of Fame each fall.

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The Denver Press Club is proud to induct four more journalists into our Hall of Fame. Please join us for a banquet in honor of:

April Zesbaugh

Gil Asakawa

Jim Benemann

Mike Nelson

The event will start with a 5:00 p.m. pre-party at the Denver Press Club before moving to the Slate Hotel just around the corner for the ceremony and dinner at 600 p.m. We are also excited to announce that each inductee has graciously offered an item or their time for an auction at the event:

April Zesbaugh will record a professional answering machine message for your cellphone,

Gil Asakawa will guide you through a delicious meal at on of Denver’s fantastic Asian eateries,

Jim Benemann will invite you to join him at an Colorado Avalanche game,

and Mike Nelson will arrange dinner for four.

Purchase your tables and tickets early as we have a limited number of seats for this event!

April Zesbaugh has delivered morning news since she joined KOA in 1996 and is one of the longest running radio news personalities in Denver. As a mainstay of KOA’s news magazine format, Zesbaugh has worked with three different co- hosts and survived three station-ownership changes, all while experiencing KOA expand beyond AM radio to include HD-Radio, an FM-simulcast, internet-streaming and podcasting. In addition to providing daily breaking news and interviews, she’s broadcast from live remotes at major news event such as 9/11 anniversaries in NYC, national political conventions, presidential inaugurations, and the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, three Broncos Super Bowls, and an American Idol finale. She’s held countless face-to-face interviews with celebrities and politicians, including comedians Bob Saget and Kevin Nealon, Olympian Amy Van Dyken, and Colorado governors and congressional leaders.

Gil Asakawa is a journalist, author, and blogger who covers Japan, Japanese American and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) culture and identity in blogs, articles and social media. His blog is at www.nikkeiview.com. He is a nationally- known speaker, panelist and expert on Japanese American and Asian American history and identity. He’s the author of “Being Japanese American” (Stone Bridge Press), a history of Japanese in America originally published in 2004 and revised in 2014, and co-author of “The Toy Book” (Alfred Knopf, 1991), a history of the toys of the Baby Boom generation. His latest book is “Tabemasho! Let’s Eat!” (Stone Bridge Press), a history of Japanese food in America.

Jim Benemann is a Denver news anchor whose career spanned 44 years to the TV news business and 36 years in local broadcasting. Benemann is one of Denver’s longest running evening TV news anchors. He was the face of the evening news on CBS Colorado since 2002, and anchored alongside Karen Leigh since 2008. Jim is a Chicago native and moved to Colorado to attend Colorado State University, earning a degree in broadcasting in 1978. Over the decades, his award-winning anchoring and reporting has included major assignments on local, national and international stories. Jim’s reporting career has seen him file stories from five continents, including two Olympic Games, covering Capitol Hill in Washington and military veterans returning to the places they served, including the battlefields of France and the jungles of Vietnam. Jim’s TV news career began in Davenport, Iowa. Prior to returning to CBS4 where he anchored in the early 1990’s, Jim worked at Denver’s KUSA-TV and at KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon.

Mike Nelson and his family moved to Denver and he served as Chief Meteorologist for 9News until the spring of 2004, when he moved to KMGH-TV. Mike continues to serve as Chief Meteorologist for Denver7. Mike has authored three books on weather and climate, The Colorado Weather Almanac (2007) and The Colorado Weather Book (1999) and the recent “World’s Littlest Book on Climate”. He spends considerable time writing and teaching about the science and the dangers of Global Warming. In his 47 year career, Mike has won 20 Emmy awards for Weather Excellence. He is also a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award and a two-time winner of the Colorado Broadcaster of the Year award.

2021

Sandra Dillard

Sandra Dillard

A ground-breaker, Sandra was the first Black female reporter at The Denver Post, where she spent three decades in a variety of roles.

Rosalind "Bee" Harris

Rosalind "Bee" Harris

The founder, publisher and editor of the Denver Urban Spectrum newspaper, Bee provided an outlet to tell the stories about people of color that weren’t being told in the mainstream media.

Mike Littwin

Mike Littwin

A fixture in Denver for the past 25 years, Mike is a columnist for the Colorado Sun.

Kathy Walsh

Kathy Walsh

A major presence on Denver’s TV screens for more than 35 years, Kathy was an award-winning, highly respected reporter and anchor at KCNC.

Alan Berg

Alan Berg

Posthumous award. A man who spoke his mind, challenged assumptions, and relished a fight about ideas, the 850 KOA talk show host drew huge audiences even as he rubbed some people the wrong way. Neo-nazis murdered Berg in the driveway of his Denver home in 1984.

2019

Sam Adams

Sam Adams

Former sportswriter at the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News

John Sunderland

John Sunderland

Former director of photography for The Denver Post

Tina Griego

Tina Griego

Managing editor at the Colorado Independent, former columnist for the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News

Mike Landess

Mike Landess

Former television anchor at KUSA-TV, KDVR-TV and KMGH-TV

Bob Martin

Bob Martin

Posthumous award, former play-by-play announcer for the Denver Broncos on KOA NewsRadio

2018

Jerry Bell

Jerry Bell

Managing editor of KOA NewsRadio

Greg Moore

Greg Moore

Former editor of The Denver Post

Janet Reeves

Janet Reeves

Former director of photography at the Rocky Mountain News

Anne Trujillo

Anne Trujillo

KMGH-TV News Anchor

John Temple

John Temple

Former editor of the Rocky Mountain News

Lowell Thomas

Lowell Thomas

Posthumous award; preeminent radio broadcaster and journalist.

2017

Adele Arakawa

Adele Arakawa

Former KUSA-TV news anchor

Dean Singleton

Dean Singleton

Former publisher and owner of The Denver Post

Irv Moss

Irv Moss

Sports writer who worked at The Denver Post for 60 years

Greg Dobbs

Greg Dobbs

Former ABC News correspondent and Denver Post columnist

Craig F. Walker

Craig F. Walker

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer at The Denver Post

Frances Foster

Frances Foster

Posthumous award; columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote Mrs. Molly Mayfield, a forerunner of advice columns.

2016

Floyd Ciruli

Floyd Ciruli

Longtime Colorado public policy researcher and pollster.

Patti Dennis

Patti Dennis

Vice President of KUSA-TV and director of recruiting for TEGNA Media

Carl Miller

Carl Miller

Capitol bureau reporter, columnist, capitol bureau chief and editorial page editor for The Denver Post.

Dave Krieger

Dave Krieger

Spent 30 years as a sports columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post

Mary Chase

Mary Chase

Posthumous award, author of Harvey

2015

Lynn Bartels

Lynn Bartels

Police reporter for the Rocky Mountain News

Mary Voelz Chandler

Mary Voelz Chandler

Arts critic & architecture reporter, Rocky Mountain News

Rich Clarkson

Rich Clarkson

The Denver Post, National Geographic and Clarkson Creative

Mike Keefe

Mike Keefe

Denver Post cartoonist; won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, 2011.

Damon Runyon

Damon Runyon

Posthumous award, former Denver Press Club member and creator of Guys & Dolls

2014

Vincent Carroll

Vincent Carroll

Longtime editorial page editor for the Rocky Mountain News until 2009; editorial page editor, The Denver Post, 2009-2016

Al Nakkula

Al Nakkula

Posthumous award. Police reporter for the Rocky Mountain News. The Press Club's award for police reporting is named for him.

Peggy Lowe

Peggy Lowe

Longtime reporter for the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post; part of the Post team that won the Pulitzer for coverage of the Columbine High School massacre.

Mark Stutz

Mark Stutz

Longtime public relations and media relations guru, Xcel Energy.

Robert Threlkeld

Robert Threlkeld

Washington, D.C. reporter for the Rocky Mountain News during Watergate; also reported for The Denver Post.

2013

Eugene Field

Eugene Field

Posthumous award. Editor, Denver Tribune, 1881-83; poet who wrote "Wynken, Blynken & Nod" and "Little Boy Blue" and once impersonated playwright Oscar Wilde (at left in photo).

Gary Gerhardt

Gary Gerhardt

Environment and local news reporter, Rocky Mountain News; covered the assassination of Alan Berg.

Michael Balfe Howard

Michael Balfe Howard

Editor, Rocky Mountain News

Pocky Marranzino Sr.

Pocky Marranzino Sr.

Rocky Mountain News

Garrett Ray

Garrett Ray

Littleton Independent

Joseph S. Sinisi

Joseph S. Sinisi

The Denver Post

2012

Frederick G. Bonfils

Frederick G. Bonfils

The Denver Post

John Dunning

John Dunning

Author and journalist

Kevin Flynn

Kevin Flynn

Rocky Mountain News

Carl Hilliard

Carl Hilliard

Associated Press

Bertha Lynn

Bertha Lynn

KMGH TV

Harry H. Tammen

Harry H. Tammen

The Denver Post

REMOVED: Father Woody (C.B. Woodrich)

REMOVED: Father Woody (C.B. Woodrich)

Archdiocese of Denver – Removed: Woodrich, the longtime editor of Denver's archdiocesan newspaper and a highly visible regional spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Church, was credibly accused of child sex abuse through multiple claims substantiated by Colorado Attorney General Special Master Bob Troyer on Dec. 1, 2020. On Dec. 15, 2020, the Board of Directors of the Denver Press Club voted unanimously to remove Woodrich from the Hall of Fame. His name, and this information, remains here for the historical record.

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2011

Bruce Goldberg

Bruce Goldberg

DPC president and associate editor at the Denver Business Journal

Ned High

Ned High

Broadcasting and public relations veteran

Gwin Johnston

Gwin Johnston

Founder of JohnstonWells Public Relations

Leonard “Buzz” Larsen

Leonard “Buzz” Larsen

The Denver Post

Jean Otto

Jean Otto

Formerly of the Rocky Mountain News

Polly Pry

Polly Pry

Awarded posthumously. Denver Post investigative reporter, exposed abuses at the Fort Lewis Indian boarding school in 1903. Also wrote about Colorado's only convicted cannibal, Alfred Packer, helping him win a pardon.

2010

William Byers

William Byers

Founder of the Rocky Mountain News

Bill Daniels

Bill Daniels

Cable pioneer

Cynthia Hessin

Cynthia Hessin

Reporter and anchor for Rocky Mountain PBS

Mike McPhee

Mike McPhee

Reporter for The Denver Post

Greg Pearson

Greg Pearson

Journalism professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver

Neil Westergaard

Neil Westergaard

Editor for the Denver Business Journal

2009

Red Fenwick

Red Fenwick

"Ridin' the Range" reporter for The Denver Post

Dick Kreck

Dick Kreck

Columnist for The Denver Post

Harry Rhoads

Harry Rhoads

Photographer for the Rocky Mountain News

Marilyn Robinson

Marilyn Robinson

Reporter for The Denver Post

Paula Woodward

Paula Woodward

Investigative reporter for 9News KUSA TV

2008

Denny Dressman

Denny Dressman

Sports editor and vice president of human resources for the Rocky Mountain News, past DPC president

Jack Foster

Jack Foster

Editor for the Rocky Mountain News

Gil Spencer

Gil Spencer

Editor of The Denver Post, New York Daily News and Philadelphia Daily News

Joan White

Joan White

Reporter and editor for the Denver Post

Dick Woodbury

Dick Woodbury

Denver correspondent for Time, reporter for the Denver Post

2007

Helen Bonfils

Helen Bonfils

Publisher of The Denver Post

Patricia Calhoun

Patricia Calhoun

Co-founder, publisher and editor of Westword

John Ensslin

John Ensslin

Reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, past DPC president

Jack Kisling

Jack Kisling

Reporter and columnist for The Denver Post

George Lane

George Lane

Reporter for The Denver Post

2006

Peter Blake

Peter Blake

Reporter and political columnist for the Rocky Mountain News

Joe Fuentes

Joe Fuentes

Reporter for the Rocky Mountain News and public relations professional

Cle Cervi Symons

Cle Cervi Symons

Editor of Cervi's Journal and former Denver Woman's Press Club president

Starr Yelland

Starr Yelland

Anchor and broadcast pioneer for KMGH-Channel 7

2005

Carl Akers

Carl Akers

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Lou Kilzer

Lou Kilzer

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Bill Kostka, Jr.

Bill Kostka, Jr.

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Bill Peery

Bill Peery

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2004

Dan Gibson

Dan Gibson

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Greg Lopez

Greg Lopez

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Roger Ogden

Roger Ogden

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Pat Oliphant

Pat Oliphant

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Ed Stein

Ed Stein

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2003

Fred Brown

Fred Brown

Reporter, editor and columnist at the Denver Post, 1963 to 2002. Regarded as one of the nation's top experts on media ethics.

Jim Conrad

Jim Conrad

Twin brother of Paul Conrad, longtime commercial artist in Denver.

Virginia Culver

Virginia Culver

Longtime religion writer for The Denver Post.

Sue O’Brien

Sue O’Brien

First woman to serve as a television news editor in Denver and first woman editor of The Denver Post's editorial page. Prior to joining the Post, she was a tenured faculty member in the University of Colorado Boulder journalism school, and served as press secretary to Gov. Richard Lamm and managed the campaign for Gov. Roy Romer.

2002

Tom Pade

Tom Pade

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Joe McGowan, Jr.

Joe McGowan, Jr.

Bureau chief for the Associated Press, Denver. When he worked for AP in India, he introduced the world to Mother Theresa.

Ralph Moore

Ralph Moore

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Ed Sardella

Ed Sardella

Longtime anchor and reporter for 9News (originally, KBTV, now KUSA), Denver.

2001

Paul Conrad

Paul Conrad

Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, he won the Denver Post's first Pulitzer in 1964. He won two more for the Los Angeles Times and was a finalist twice more.

Thomas Hornsby Ferrill

Thomas Hornsby Ferrill

Colorado's first poet laureate and prolific author, Ferrill was a Press Club regular. The honored back table in the dining room is named after him. His poem "Here is a Land Where Life is Written in Water" can be found as part of a mural on the first floor of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.

Edwin Palmer Hoyt

Edwin Palmer Hoyt

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Jean Tool

Jean Tool

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2000

Lee Casey

Lee Casey

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Hall Heffron

Hall Heffron

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Ivan Rosenberg

Ivan Rosenberg

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Zeke Scher

Zeke Scher

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1999

Isabelle Holmes

Isabelle Holmes

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Sam Lusky

Sam Lusky

City editor of the Rocky Mountain News. Dusty Saunders called him the "Rocky's version of Lou Grant."

Dusty Saunders

Dusty Saunders

Longtime entertainment critic for the Rocky Mountain News and one of the nation's top entertainment reporters.