Jim Klobuchar

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Klobuchar, Jim A native of Ely, Minnesota, and a longtime Star Tribune columnist and sportswriter, died May 12, 2021. He was 93. After graduating from Ely Junior College and the University of Minnesota, Klobuchar worked for the Bismarck Tribune and the Associated Press. In 1961 he joined the then Minneapolis Tribune as a sportswriter, covering the Minnesota Vikings. After a short stint at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, he returned to the Minneapolis paper to write a general public interest column until 1995 when he retired. Writing with both compassion and humor about Minnesota's culture, sports and politics, he was voted the nation's "outstanding columnist" in 1984 by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. During his career, he wrote more than 8,400 columns. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, one of Jim's two daughters, remembered that "Throughout his life, my dad was a champion of those on the outside and gave voice to the struggles and triumphs of countless Minnesotans." "Through his columns," she said, "he told the stories of the 'heroes among us'- ordinary people doing extraordinary things." Jim also wrote 23 books, including the biography of former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton, a meditation on faith and sobriety called Pursued by Grace, and an amusing book which is unfortunately still relevant today entitled Will the Vikings Ever Win the Superbowl? He also taught budding journalists at the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas. Klobuchar was an avid adventurer and traveler. His annual "Jaunts with Jim" bicycling treks across Minnesota drew up to 200 people each summer. He biked around Lake Superior, climbed the Matterhorn eight times as well as the second highest peak in the Andes, camped out in ten below zero temperatures, and shared his love of the outdoors with his family and friends. He is survived by his daughters Amy, of Minneapolis, Minn.; Meagan, of Tallahassee, Fla.; granddaughter Abigail, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; his wife, Susan Wilkes, of Boulder, Colo.; and his brother, Dick, of Rochester, Minn. He is preceded in death by his parents, Mike and Mary Klobuchar, and first wife and friend Rose Klobuchar. As a veteran, Jim Klobuchar will be laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. A public celebration of his life will be announced at a later day. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where a scholarship will be established in his name. Donations can be made at this link: crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/…-. They can also be mailed to the University of Minnesota Foundation, Jim Klobuchar Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 860266, Minneapolis, MN, 55486-0266.

Published on May 16, 2021