San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Editor left an unforgettable imprint
A clever turn of phrase, a great pitch for a feature article or a hard-hitting investigation — these were things that made Michael Collier’s face break out in a big grin in a newsroom.
That, and the prospect of a knee-pounding bicycle trek over hundreds of miles.
Collier was a journalist’s journalist who wore his love for biking on the sleeve of his cycling jersey. Over a four-decade career that took him to editing and writing posts at The Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune and EdSource, he left an unforgettable imprint on anyone who worked with him.
His sudden death on Feb. 18 after a car accident in Oregon left his legions of news-industry friends stunned, recalling a man often described as the nicest guy in the newsroom. He was 66.
“So many reporters here at The Chronicle have fond memories of being edited by Mike,” said Chronicle Director of News Demian Bulwa. “He had deep knowledge about the East Bay, and he loved a good story.
“His eyes would light up when you pitched him, and he’d say, ‘Let’s do it.’ ” He loved being at the center of the conversation.”
Collier started at The Chronicle in 1998 as its East Bay bureau chief and rose to deputy city editor and political editor before leaving the paper in 2013. Projects he directed ranged from covering Oakland’s spiraling homicide rate to tracing transformative trends in politics.
He then followed his passion for two wheels to become editor in chief of SpinAdventure.com, which covered long-distance cycling, while also contributing to EdSource, an education news site, as writer and editor.
Kristin Bender, a news writer at KTVU, met him through a mutual friend 25 years ago and bicycled countless miles with him as he grew from a novice to a USA Cycling certified coach who liked to pedal 200 miles in a day.
“He just really went for it and kept getting better and better,” Bender said. “He absolutely loved cycling and the outdoors.”
Before coming to The Chronicle, Collier was a bureau chief at the San Jose Mercury News, leading a team producing stories about how the technology boom in Silicon Valley drove housing prices out of middleclass reach. Before that he was a reporter at the Oakland Tribune, where his skills as a wordsmith soon propelled him into that paper’s editor ranks, where he helped direct coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and 1991 East Bay hills fire.
Trapper Byrne, who succeeded Collier as The Chronicle’s politics editor, said his even keel was a calming influence on reporters and editors alike.
“He did what editors are supposed to — he made stories better without injecting his own viewpoint into the process,” Byrne said. “You never saw a sign of ego in Mike, which is important to be a good editor. I never saw him lose his temper. He was one of the most level-headed, non-ego-driven nice guys in the room.”
Collier retired several years ago as he adjusted to living with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The crash that killed him happened near the rural town of
Vernonia, about 35 miles northwest of Portland, when a car coming the opposite direction on Highway 47 drifted across the lanes and hit Collier’s car head-on, according to local authorities. The other car’s driver also died. Collier’s wife of 43 years, Claire Colburn-Collier, was driving and is recovering from her injuries.
“He spent his last years finding delight and vitality in day trips to the Point Reyes National Seashore, the coastline redwoods and dancing while he did percussion on his body with his hands,” Colburn-Collier said. “He showed his friends and family a miraculous way of living while you’re dying of Alzheimer’s.
“He made us all laugh while we played and danced.”
Collier was born in Bagdad, Ariz., and grew up in Beaverton, Ore. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Earlham College in Indiana — where he also performed in chamber choir, acted in plays and edited the school newspaper — and a master’s degree in journalism at UC Berkeley in 1981.
He is survived by his wife, who lives in Richmond; sons, Dylan Charles Collier of Beaverton and Ryan Matthew Colburn-Collier of San Mateo; and daughter, Aliza Marie ColburnCollier of El Cerrito.
Services are pending.