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Cole's hometown was Winston-Salem, where his father, John, was rector of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church. He was a Morehead Scholar at UNC and editor of the Daily Tarheel. While still in college, he wrote a widely used textbook on debate.

He and I were both reporters in Raleigh in the late 70's and followed a similar career path. Actually, I followed him from Raleigh to Virginia to Greensboro. It was a coincidental path, and here it stopped, although he remained a close friend.

Cole lived in Greensboro for nine years, from 1982 when he was hired as a city government reporter to 1991 when he joined The Virginian-Pilot as managing editor.

He was a visible presence here, teaching journalism at Guilford College, moderating the High IQ Bowl on television for years, and writing the occasional column for this newspaper.

But he was primarily a leader, and as such, much of his influence was felt behind the scenes. He edited and nurtured dozens of writers here who later went to papers across the country, including two who won Pulitzer Prizes. He was an early editor of the newspaper series Jerry Bledsoe wrote that later became the best selling "Bitter Blood." He was behind many of the journalistic projects that made a difference in the life of the community.

He taught many of the journalists here -- me included and me particularly -- to think about journalism as a sacred trust. He correctly said that journalism as practiced wasn't sacred, but needed to be challenged and expanded to seek its ultimate service to the public. He encouraged us -- through teaching, through moral suasion, through a kick in the pants -- to be better.

He approached journalism with courage and daring. As a result, his ideas often ruffled feathers -- he loved to deflate blowhards and occasionally didn't suffer fools gladly -- but ultimately he turned out to be right, or at least on the right path.

As editor of the Pilot and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he became one of the brightest lights on the national journalism scene.

Unlike so many of us, Cole could see around the corner and tried to prepare us all for what was coming. He was writing about what we now call citizen journalism years ago. He was an early predictor of the vast expansion of news options citizens would have and encouraged newspapers to understand their new role. He understood that journalism is the key; the newspaper is just a delivery mechanism. Most important, he encouraged journalists to think of readers not as passive news consumers but as citizens participating in the life of the community.

"Journalism," he wrote, "is a community empowerment tool."

We don't have enough innovators in journalism, leaders who will help us keep up with where the readers are taking us. Cole was a natural teacher, but I wish he had remained an editor. I would have loved to watch him lead a newsroom into the new media world. My guess is that an enterprising journalism student will find an essay or 12 on his computer outlining ideas about the future.

I don't have enough space to capture his true humanity, but I will tell one story. He was a showman at heart, and did nothing if he couldn't be dramatic. The last time I saw him was in 2004 at his wedding in Chicago. During the reception, everyone was dancing when Cole stopped the band, cleared the dance floor, called his new bride over, and began singing a Van Morrison love song to her.

He had taken singing lessons for weeks to prepare for this moment. Honestly, he was terrible. But it may have been the most romantic thing I've ever seen.

He remained a mentor and wise counselor until Friday. I last spoke with him over Christmas when I had asked his advice and he responded with a long, detailed answer that then referred the question to his adult daughter, who also responded via e-mail disagreeing with him. Classic.

I'm a better journalist because of Cole’s friendship, and we are a better newspaper because of his leadership.