Former Journalism Professor Bick Lucas Dies at 88
Bick Lucas taught design and editing, among other courses. (Photo courtesy of the School of Journalism)
Bick Lucas liked to show students a photo of him attempting to defend a woman's basketball player while at The Denver Post. His lack of jumping ability led to the nickname "Skywalker" in the caption. (Photo courtesy of the School of Journalism)
Bick Lucas working on a computer in the basement of the Franklin Building, where the journalism department was housed until 2004. (Photo courtesy of the School of Journalism)
Clarence Bickford "Bick" Lucas, who taught journalism at the University of Arizona from 1982 to 1994 after a 20-year career at The Denver Post, died in Tucson on March 5 after a lingering illness. He was 88.
Lucas graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota in 1951 before joining the U.S. Army, where he was the sports editor of the Ivy Leaves, the 4th Infantry Division newspaper in Frankfurt, in what was then West Germany.
He spent 10 years as an assistant sports editor in Europe for Stars and Stripes, an independent news outlet for members of the U.S. military, and covered the opening ceremonies of the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. In 1962, he left to become a copy editor at The Denver Post, moving to news editor in 1965 and sports editor in 1968.
Lucas, who helped found and run the Associated Press Sports Editors association, covered Super Bowl XII in New Orleans for the Post in 1978, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27-10. He also covered PGA tournaments and the NBA playoffs.
Lucas came to Tucson after retiring from the Post. He inaugurated a sportswriting course at the UA in 1984, taught reporting, editing and design, and was an adviser to The Tombstone Epitaph.
Lucas also started a class in which students produced segments for a public access TV station. One segment lasted three months in 1987, when students provided gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Frank Jarvis Atwood murder trial – the first time in Arizona history that such television coverage was permitted.
One of 20 professors selected nationally to participate in the Gannett Center for Media Studies' seminar on modern technology, Lucas also led the School of Journalism's summer high school diversity journalism workshop for two years.
"I've enjoyed teaching and advising because it's given me a chance to meet a lot of students," he said after retiring. Lucas was proud of the cable station, Tucson News and Sports, which he said "propelled the department in a new direction."
Lucas is survived by his wife, Peggy; daughter, Linda; sons John and Bill; four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Services are pending.
A version of this article first appeared on the School of Journalism's website.