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Hard
work characteristic of journalism professor He’s hard to miss. He’s the big man with graying hair, parted to one side, and glasses. He’s wearing a button-down work shirt with faded jeans. He’s sitting in his cubicle at the obituary office of the Fort Worth Star- Telegram leaning in his chair, arms crossed across his chest, head back, eyes closed, mouth open. Occasionally, he snores.
Doug Clarke, 63, has been spending hours and hours working on his Ph.D., teaching journalism classes at TCU and has recently spent time in a hospital for chest pains. But when he’s napping at work, he isn’t tired or lazy — he’s practically burnt out. Clarke has spent much of his life bouncing between various jobs — whether through boredom or necessity. These switches have caused Clarke to adapt to new situations and have given him a strong work ethic that he has used throughout everything in life — from work, to school, to parenthood. Clarke likes to say that he doesn’t have any goals left to achieve. In fact, he said he has done almost everything he has set out to do — from mowing lawns as a child to teaching students about life inside and outside of a newsroom. “Most students have never been exposed to the realities of the world,” Clarke said. “You try to prepare them (in a classroom) but they still don’t believe you. As a teacher, I try to remember what it was like to be a cub reporter, like what to do and what not to do. I try to bring that into the classroom.” Today, Clarke spends his days working toward his doctorate degree, which he has been working on for nine semesters and claims he is 4,000 pages behind in his reading, working as the weekend supervisor to the classified obituary staff at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and teaching as an adjunct professor of journalism at TCU. But multiple jobs are just part of his life, Clarke said. “I’ve been doing anything to cobble out a living,” he said. “I like accepting challenges and trying to stay busy.” This workaholic attitude started in Clarke at age 7 when his parents divorced. His father left for California, and Clarke was raised in East Dallas by his mother. Because his mother was a public school teacher, she was unable to work during the summers, so at age 8, Clarke started cutting grass — five lawns a day at 35 cents a lawn. At age 14, Clarke decided he was never cutting another lawn, and he hasn’t. Clarke
decided he wasn’t spending his life working in a field. He
was going to college, but said he was worried about getting accepted
to one. When Clarke was 12 years old, he was 6-2, 180 pounds and later was the only eighth grade starter on the football team. Clarke said he worked hard and continued playing football through high school and received a full-ride football scholarship to the University of North Texas. “After I got (the scholarship), I decided to make my new goal to graduate from college,” he said. But before he could graduate, Clarke said he had to pick a major. He knew he couldn’t go on being a football player. He also knew he didn’t want to be a teacher or a football coach. “My mother was gone too long and her salary was too low,” he said. “I didn’t realize there were other types of teachers (outside the public school system). And I didn’t want to teach boring English in high school or junior high. I also didn’t want to be a coach because I didn’t want to get locked in. I didn’t want to be seen as a dumb jock.” During
Clarke’s junior year, his psychology teacher suggested journalism. Clarke worked for the UNT newspaper, and in the summer of 1962, he graduated from college with a bachelor of arts in journalism. Clarke said after graduation, he didn’t try too hard to find a job. He didn’t have anyone to support, and he hadn’t set a new goal for himself — that is, before he met “Miss Judy.” “I was barefoot and fancy free and chased girls everywhere they went,” Clarke said. “Then I met this ol’ girl, and it all changed.” And in 1963, Miss Judy Faries became Mrs. Judy Clarke, and Clarke took a job at a newspaper in Corsicana. But life in Corsicana wasn’t all a joking matter. Clarke said he was only getting small stories and was itching for more. He heard the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was looking for a new police beat writer. Clarke said he applied and was hired on the spot. During this time, Clarke worked hard and learned the system and he eventually became city editor at the Star-Telegram. Two children and 20 years later, Clarke built a nice niche for himself at the newspaper, but a disagreement with a new superior about a story sent Clarke searching for a new job. “I was going to leave, or I was going to kill the managing editor,” Clarke said. “It probably would have been wiser to take a six-month leave of absence, but they didn’t have that, so I quit.” Clarke
then spent seven years working as a public information officer at
the Fort Worth Police Department. At the police department, he said
he worked between 60 and 80 hours a week without being paid overtime. “It’s a love-hate relationship really,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a teacher in public schools. If people are really interested in journalism, then I could help them become a good journalist.” Clarke started teaching at a junior college to “make some extra change,” he said. But to stay on as a teacher, Clarke had to have a masters degree. Clarke kept teaching and started taking classes at UNT, and eventually, he got his masters. Clarke then made his way to TCU. Clarke said he approached Anantha Babbili, then chairman of the journalism department, about a job at TCU. Babbili said Clarke was picked for the job because of his work experience. “Doug Clarke is one of the most experienced newsmen in the area,” he said. “When I joined TCU in 1981, he was one of the first reporters I met. (His stories) were accurate and he had credibility.” TCU, Clarke said, was different from other schools because he got a chance to dive in and teach. During his time at TCU, Clarke has taught media writing and editing courses and public affairs reporting. But it isn’t the classes he teaches that he enjoys — it’s what he teaches. “I want to prepare (students) for when they go out so they won’t run into surprises,” he said. “I can expose them to things that will make them good journalists.” With almost two years left in his doctoral studies, Clarke hasn’t let down his workaholic attitude but has taken it with him in a quest for more knowledge to share. Clarke said, although he had questions at first about his age and ability, he knows now he can do it. Last semester, Clarke said there was a 73-year-old man working on his Ph.D. “You’re never too old,” Clarke said. “It’s a chase — a set of challenges. It’s taken quite a bit of adaptation on my part.” Clarke’s life won’t end after he gets his Ph.D. — it’ll actually start anew. He said he hopes to use what he learns in the educational field and pass some of it to his students. During all these different jobs, and the numbers of hours spent away from home, Mrs. Clarke said Clarke has always been faithful to his commitments, especially, to one in particular. “(His family) always came first,” Mrs. Clarke said. At the end of February, Clarke spent five days in the hospital with chest pains, with what was feared as a heart attack. Even this false alarm didn’t stop Clarke. “Nothing slows me down,” he said. Life for Clarke has pretty much stayed the same in recent years. He always has the same advice for aspiring journalists — be wary of copy editors, they are communists. He said he tried to be a good parent, because he feels children need two parents. He’s still married to “Mrs. Judy” because he told her he’s already been through the divorce of his parents, and he isn’t going through another. Clarke also still wears the button-down shirts and the faded jeans. And he says he doesn’t have any goals to meet. At least, not yet. Jacque
Petersell |
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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
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