Russell Minick, award-winning Bee writer who shaped public opinion for decades, dies at 70

Longtime Fresno Bee journalist Russell Minick, whose writings helped influence public opinion on key issues for more than two decades, has died after battling kidney cancer.

He was 70 years old when he passed away Monday.

An award-winning writer, Minick spent 20 of his 23 years at The Bee as a member of the newspaper’s editorial board and helped form opinions the paper endorsed on a variety of contentious topics.

Among the issues and people that Minick championed were the development of a Triple-A baseball stadium in downtown Fresno, the state high-speed rail system and the region’s underclass.

“When you look at the things that Russ wrote about, he reflected on some of the most important priorities of our region,” said Jim Boren, a former executive editor at The Bee who served as editorial page editor during the latter half of Minick’s career.

“He was a passionate supporter of public education, pushed for more parks for Fresno, knew the long-term value of high-speed rail and supported economic development that improved the lot of everyone, not just developers.

“He advocated for a balanced water policy that served the needs of urban users, farmers and the environment,” Boren added. “He always wrote with the community in mind.”

From Texas to Fresno

As the oldest of three children to the late Fresno State professor Robert A. Minick and librarian Sarah Minick, Russell developed a passion for reading books, playing and watching baseball, and keeping up with current events.

Above all else, he learned the importance of love for his family and compassion for others.

Minick was born in Dallas and spent his first 11 years growing up in Texas before the family moved to Missouri for a year.

Then in 1962, Minick’s father declined an opportunity to return to Texas to instead accept a job as an economics professor at Fresno State.

“Getting away from the bigotry in Texas was a big reason,” Russell Minick said in 2015 following his father’s passing.

Minick wasted little time developing friends in Fresno.

He was part of a Babe Ruth baseball team that included his future boss and colleague in Boren, as well as his longtime best friend Larry Parsons, who also would go on to have a lengthy career in journalism.

As a big, tall right-handed pitcher, Minick thrived at baseball at the high school level while playing for Hoover High under then-coach and former Fresno State baseball great Jack Hannah.

“Russ’ smart-alecky arrogance at being from Texas and his know-it-all manner intrigued my young self,” Parsons wrote about his friend’s passing. “I learned all the wonderful ways to use ‘y’all’ and correctly pronounce the delicious, home-baked pecan pie served at his family’s table.

“He was a really bright guy, funny and just fun to be around,” Parsons added during a telephone interview.

Venturing into journalism

A 1969 Hoover High graduate, Minick went on to earn bachelor’s degrees in political science and rhetoric at Cal.

Then after a few years of living in Berkeley and traveling to Japan, he returned home to receive a master’s degree in journalism at Fresno State. He was especially excited to have learned from then-professor Roger Tatarian, who would become one of three mentors that Minick credited for shaping his career.

Minick landed his first job in journalism with the Newhall Signal, a newspaper in Southern California, and worked with another mentor, Scott Newhall, a longtime editor with the San Francisco Chronicle.

In 1986, Minick got a job at The Fresno Bee.

He worked in various roles within the newsroom for three years before joining the opinions/editorial department within the newsroom, hired by his third mentor Tom Kirwan.

As The Bee’s longtime editorial page editor, Kirwan stressed to Minick the importance of good government and good writing.

Minick crafted award-winning editorials with similar thinking in mind, regularly writing about public policy that included issues such as air quality, transportation, planning and development, water, schools, sports, health care and more.

“Some of it worked, and left the Valley a better place,” Minick wrote in his farewell column with The Bee in 2009, which was one of the few times his byline appeared in the newspaper since editorials that represented its opinion as a company often did not include the name of the author. “Some of it drew harsh criticism and some of it won praise. I’m proud of all of that.”

Minick was The Bee’s deputy editorial page editor when his time at the newspaper came to an abrupt end, laid off in April 2009 as part of staff reductions due to the nationwide recession.

Nonetheless, his impact at The Bee and the influence he had within the community remained undeniable and became a standard of opinion writing that others wanted to match.

“Russ was the kind of journalist who could understand complex issues and write in a way that would make it not as complicated for the reader,” Boren said. “He was an elegant writer who emphasized the facts and wrote editorials that were really, really persuasive. ...

“Russ always believed there’s a solution to our toughest problems if we worked to get there through thoughtful debate and reasonable compromise. He wouldn’t tolerate political grandstanders.”

A love for family and food

Beyond journalism, Minick enjoyed cooking and sharing his love for food with others.

Each year, he would invite members of The Bee’s support staff to his home to cook for the group and show his appreciation for their behind-the-scene contributions in the newsroom.

“He was an amazing cook, made everything from scratch” said Toni Machado, a longtime Fresno Bee executive administrative assistant. “He had a good heart.”

Minick’s love was especially strong for his family, which included younger siblings Nancy and Steve.

Minick enjoyed hanging out with his parents at their home, and discussing politics and other current events.

And he loved spending time with nieces Erin and Haley, and nephews Nick and Brent, and simply watching them grow.

Just days before this past Christmas, Minick’s brother, Steve, and nephew Brent visited Russ’ house in the Tower District and they made homemade pizza together.

“If anyone in the family ever needed anything, he was always there,” Steve said. “He had such a big heart.

“We are going to miss him.”

No services are planned.

This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 12:13 PM.