COC journalism prof, ABC News producer Tague dies at age 70

College of the Canyons professor and ABC News producer Patrick Tague was remembered by his students and peers this week after his recent death at age 70.

Tague, an adjunct professor who taught journalism at College of the Canyons during the day and worked closely with ABC’s news anchors at night, died July 15.

Dave Brill, media entertainment arts instructor at COC, said he invited Tague to the department at COC more than a decade ago, after meeting him in the ABC7 newsroom.

Brill said that the same passion Tague had in the ABC7 newsroom was brought into his classroom.

“He was sensational in the classroom; he always had an opinion,” said Brill. “He was always passionate; he always was unfiltered. He was someone who was interested in talking about everything, from what was happening in our industry and news to you, obviously pontificating about things in entertainment and sports.”

“I think the first 15 or 20 minutes of his class was basically a sort of ‘Patrick Tague Monologue’ that the students played along with,” said Brill.

Tague was a writer and producer for KABC-TV for more than 20 years, spending much of his time on the morning show. Before he was at KABC-TV, Tague worked as a producer for “Good Morning America,” and when he applied for the position as an adjunct professor at College of the Canyons, journalist Charlie Gibson was one of his references.

“I was talking to (Gibson), and we went on to speak for like 45 minutes, and 15 minutes of it was him essentially telling me what a great guy Patrick was, which I already knew,” said Brill.

ABC7’s John Gregory released a statement via his Instagram calling Tague a “dear friend” and “old-school news guy who wanted to tell stories people needed to know.”

“He was the thorn in all of our sides when we forgot the mission or our purpose as journalists,” Gregory said in his statement. “He was the person every newsroom needs to have.”