27-02-2025
'Voice of resistance,' longtime Milwaukee columnist Joel McNally dies at age 80
"A voice of resistance."
"One of the most devoted and active progressive liberal individuals."
"Always looking out for the underdog."
"An absolute character."
Those are just a few of the many ways Joel McNally's former Milwaukee Journal colleagues remember their longtime friend.
The longtime columnist and thorn in the side of many Milwaukee public officials died Tuesday in Virginia. He would have turned 81 on March 4. The family said a memorial will be held in Milwaukee at a future date.
McNally spent 27 years with the Milwaukee Journal, predecessor to the Journal Sentinel. He'd go on to have a second act with the Shepherd Express, where he spent a little time as an editor and a longer stretch as a columnist. He also dabbled in public television and radio along the way.
He continued to write his syndicated column, Taking Liberties, up until just a few months before his death, according to a statement from his wife, Kit and their daughter Kelly.
'Believing he was truly contributing to justice and a better life for everyone with his words and his honest take on the problems and progress within the city of Milwaukee was what fueled Joel's passion and powered the words in his columns,' they said.
"Joel had a very unusual, creative mind and it manifested itself just across the board," said Jim Rowen, a former Journal and Journal Sentinel reporter and editor. "It was a privilege — people overuse these words — but it was an absolute privilege to be his friend."
McNally was known for his signature long red locks — grayer and more receding as he aged — thick mustache and distinct laugh, which one friend described as "more of a giggle."
"I never met anyone quite like him," said Neil Rosenberg, a former Milwaukee Journal and Journal Sentinel health reporter and editor. "His commitment. His interest in the welfare of the citizens of this country. His wanting to improve things and make things better no matter what it might cost him — whether it be pissing off the editors at the Journal or whatever. It didn't bother him. He was fearless. But, compassionate. And, fun to be with. And, the life of the party."
McNally proposed to Kit immediately after college. They'd remain partners and best friends for the next 60 years, Kit and Kelly said in their statement.
'Joel also was a patient and devoted father to kids Sean, Shannon, and Kelly and an enthusiastic granddad to grandsons Lucas and Nicolas," the statement said. "He was never too busy to appreciate their talents, listen to their ideas, or take them to a concert or a ballgame.'
An Indiana University graduate, McNally worked for The Chicago Tribune before joining the Milwaukee Journal in the late '60s.
When he was elevated to local columnist, he became a rare element of cool fearlessness in the city's largest, very traditional newspaper. His columns were typically satirical, and the emphasis could vary from humorous to harsh depending on McNally's mood or the subject. Eventually, his work carried a notification that it was a satirical column of personal opinion, presumably to make sure readers understood the intent because too many either weren't getting it and were offended.
His fans were legion; they loved seeing him needle the latest public figure. "He used humor to make some pretty biting social commentary," said Meg Kissinger, who reported for the Journal and Journal Sentinel. "It was an important voice for the city of Milwaukee at a time when not everybody was willing to stand up to authority."
His detractors, especially near the end of his run at the Journal, thought he had become out of step with the city, one-dimensional, a charming but predictable anachronism.
He was known for his tough reporting on Mayor Henry Maier, Police Chief Harold Breier, police brutality, discrimination and civil rights.
And he blended politics and pop culture references of the day, as he did in a 1992 column driven by television's Murphy Brown deciding to start a family on her own. He poked fun at Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, referring to him as "Vice President Snerd sums up everything that is wrong with society in the simplest of terms. The problem, according to the vice president, is Murphy Brown is 'mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice.'"
Around deer hunting season, McNally was known for writing an anti-hunting column in a state heavy on the sport. It was full of humor and sarcasm — and tinged with seriousness, Rosenberg said. And, it always provoked a lot of reader reaction and letters to the editor, according to Rowen.
During his time with the Journal, McNally won a National Headliner Award for 'Consistently Outstanding Local Column' and numerous state and local journalism awards, according to his Shepherd Express bio.
During Rosenberg's first week on the job as a general assignment reporter at the Milwaukee Journal, he got to tag along with McNally, who was a city hall reporter at the time.
"I was so impressed about the people he knew and met and his sources and everything else," said Rosenberg, who now resides in Florida. "I said, 'That's what I want to be.'"
McNally was part of a tight-knit group of Journal folks that did "all sorts of crazy things" together, Rosenberg said. One time, they canoed down the Peshtigo River, emulating the 1972 film "Deliverance."
McNally loved the Brewers. "He and I sometimes played hooky and just left the paper in the afternoon and went to a ballgame," Rosenberg said. "We were like school kids in many ways."
Wednesday paydays and Friday afternoons often called for lunch at Saz's.
And the McNallys hosted holiday parties at their longtime east side home. All were invited: The managing editor, editors, reporters, photographers and community members from "every walk of life," Rosenberg said.
When the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel merged in 1995, McNally was among the many who were not offered a job.
When he got up to walk to the door after being let go, the newsroom gave him a standing ovation, Kissinger recalled.
"I remember walking down the staircase with him when I saw that he got the tap on the shoulder," Rosenberg said. "We were both crying, and I put my arms around him and I said: 'You're going to be OK.' And, he was."
McNally would go on to become a columnist for the Shepherd Express, where he also spent two years as editor.
He co-hosted a radio morning show, called "Morning Magazine," from 2006 to 2010 with Cassandra Cassandra on WMCS-AM (1290). When Kane interviewed McNally, McNally said he understood the skepticism, but was determined to prove it to be a good fit.
According to McNally's Shepherd Express bio, he also was involved with Milwaukee Public Television as a contributing producer for "Inside View" and a regular panelist on 'InterChange.'
He spent time as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, teaching courses in urban history, community problems, and race and public policy, his Shepherd Express bio said.
He continued writing for the Shepherd even after he and his wife made their move to Virginia within the last decade.
When Rosenberg last talked to McNally about two months ago, his voice sounded a little weaker, but he was still "the same Joel, the same laugh, the same zest for life, the same interests, still knowledgeable about what was going on."
In recent weeks, McNally called Rowen out of the blue to catch up. While he wasn't quite his old self, he sounded pretty good and was joking around, Rowen said. They talked politics and about McNally not being thrilled about the current state of the country.
Rowen filled him in on what was new with their old Journal pals, and Rowen let him know the whole crew was rooting for him.
Rosenberg tried to call his friend Tuesday, but he didn't answer. That wasn't unusual.
"Typically, he doesn't answer, but he may answer in a week or so when he feels better," Rosenberg said.
The next day, McNally's daughter Kelly let Rosenberg know his friend had passed away overnight.
"Joel was very much a huge part of my life," Rosenberg said. "He made me a better person for knowing him. And, he was almost as much a brother to me as he was a friend."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Voice of resistance,' longtime Milwaukee columnist Joel McNally dies
