Bob Franklin, longtime Star Tribune journalist, dies at 87

Star Tribune journalist Bob Franklin loved a good yarn.

There were the stories he wrote about the bachelors of Herman, Minn., who outnumbered single women by eight to one. The town’s economic development director put out a call for more career jobs for women and encouraged them to visit Herman, population 470.

There were his articles about the 10-ton ball of twine that took a farmer nearly three decades to create and made tiny Darwin, Minn., a tourist attraction.

As a journalism instructor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Franklin told his students that “the best stories were the ones that could make a reader say, ‘Holy smokes, Mabel!’ as he read the paper at breakfast,” said Star Tribune senior editor Patrick Condon (though Franklin used a stronger term).

Franklin, of Medina, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2022, died Jan. 31 at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale following a massive stroke the previous week, said his daughter, Mary Benjamin of Minneapolis. He was 87.

During a 39-year career with the Minneapolis newspaper that began in 1967, Franklin covered state government, outstate Minnesota and philanthropy, and also served as state editor. For a short period, he was city editor after the afternoon Star and morning Tribune merged in 1982.

“He was a natural storyteller,” said his son, James, of Rockford, Minn. “That is what intrigued him about journalism. He was fascinated by other people’s stories.”

Franklin was born in Philadelphia in 1937, the son of Sally and Jack Franklin, and grew up in the suburb of Glenside, Pa. As far back as anyone could remember, he wanted to be a reporter, said his sister, Sue Franklin, of Batavia, Ill.

While in grade school he started the Franklin Herald, a one-page neighborhood newspaper he printed on a mimeograph machine in the family kitchen and sold for a penny. He piled the newspapers into a wagon that he pulled and Sue pushed around the neighborhood, with little brother Jack seated inside.

Franklin graduated from Cheltenham High School and Penn State University in State College, where he was editor of the Daily Collegian. He spent summers working at local papers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

After Franklin spent two years in the U.S. Army, he decided to study journalism in the graduate program at the University of Minnesota, said his brother Jack, also of Batavia. While working for the Associated Press, he met Norma Jean Belke on a blind date. They were married in 1966.

Franklin was hired in 1967 by the Tribune, where he gained a reputation for his inquisitive nature, colorful leads and insistence on making sure his stories were unfailingly accurate. Becky Lentz, one of his students at St. Thomas who now works in public relations, said that Franklin used to tell his classes: “If your mother says she loves you, verify it.”

David Nimmer, former managing editor at the Star and journalism professor at St. Thomas, said Franklin was highly regarded by his students. He periodically got together with some of them after he retired.

“They talked about how he was involved in their lives,” Nimmer said. “He knew their names, he cared about them, and he knew what he was talking about when he talked about reporting on public affairs.”

In retirement, Franklin mentored students in the University of St. Thomas' ThreeSixty Journalism program at Edison and Roosevelt high schools in Minneapolis and Harding High School in St. Paul, his daughter said.

In a memo he wrote shortly before his death, Franklin said he wanted to be remembered as “a defender of people’s right to know government information.” He was a past president and freedom of information chair of the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Co-workers at the newspaper might have mistaken the chaos at his desk, encompassed by tall stacks of outstate newspapers, for disorganization.

“In that mess of a desk, Bob maintained a story idea file that was always brimming to overflowing,” said Paul Klauda, the Star Tribune’s nation/world editor.

He also had a sharp sense of humor. Klauda said that Dick Youngblood, the paper’s longtime business editor, would stop by Franklin’s desk looking for stories.

“Franklin, whaddya got for Sunday biz?” Youngblood would ask.

Bob’s answer was always the same: ”Utter contempt.”

Franklin, who lived on Lake Independence, enjoyed boating and continued to water ski until he was 80. He served on the Medina City Council from 1971 to 1976 and as the city’s police chief from 1971 to 1973; “I am one of the few police chiefs who will not own a gun,” he would say. He continued to remain active in Medina public affairs in retirement.

“Bob was a community-minded person,” said Liz Weir, who was mayor of Medina from 2012 to 2014. “He really cared about the well-being of the city.”

Besides his wife, sister, brother and two children, Franklin is survived by three grandchildren. A service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 31 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 2060 County Rd. 6, Long Lake, with visitation starting at 10 a.m.

Franklin had a reputation for kicking off his shoes, padding about the newsroom and classroom in his stocking feet. His students called him “Shoeless Bob.”

When Franklin retired in 2007, newsroom colleagues said that he was leaving “big socks to fill,” according to former reporter and editor Warren Wolfe.

“I think it was a comfort thing,” said James Franklin. “And he wanted to be unique.”