Former Daily Pilot Managing Editor Chuck Loos dies
Charles H. “Chuck” Loos, a former Daily Pilot managing editor highly regarded for his years of mentoring generations of young Orange County journalists, died last week.
The Newport Beach resident died March 26 at Hoag Hospital after suffering a stroke. He was 80.
Loos, who was born and raised in the Pasadena area, began his long career at the Pilot in 1961, when it was the Orange Coast Daily Pilot, after serving in the Army and studying at the University of Colorado Boulder. Save for a stint as a public information officer at UC Riverside, Loos worked at the Pilot until 1982 and at other publications through the 1990s.
Loos’ wife, Phoebe, said her late husband — ever the true newsman — had even written his own obituary. In it, Loos noted that he took pride in providing coverage for many of Orange County’s biggest stories from the 1960s through the 1990s, including the opening of UC Irvine and the county’s 1994 bankruptcy.
“I always loved local newspapers — dailies and weeklies — because they were at the heart of the community,” Loos wrote. “And as a journalist you never got pigeonholed like you would at a big metro newspaper, and you were never bored because you could do so many different things.”
Former Pilot editor and reporter Steve Mitchell called Loos a firm but soft-spoken father figure to many of the Pilot’s “kids.”
“He just taught us everything we knew,” Mitchell said, referring to Loos’ name for the young reporters. “From accuracy to getting a number of sources for each story, everything he did was so professional.”
Joanne Reynolds, who worked at the Pilot from 1967 to 1980, was one of those budding journalists who learned much from Loos.
“We thought we were God’s gift to journalism,” Reynolds said. “[But] it was his job to persuade us otherwise and teach us to be good journalists. The process wasn’t always smooth.”
In a pre-Post-it note age, Loos was known for leaving green pieces of paper, nicknamed “green meanies,” on his staffers’ typewriters. They contained his blunt thoughts about their work. He would point out misspellings and use question marks to denote less-than-clear passages. Occasionally, he offered words of praise.
“It was journalism through terror,” Mitchell said. “But he was a good, good teacher. Nobody wanted to disappoint Chuck, because they had that much respect for him.”
Reynolds credited Loos for her improvement as a writer.
“He was a great editor and a fabulous boss to work for,” she said. “I really loved working under him.”
Former Pilot photographer Gary Ambrose said he’s hung on to one of those green meanies, signed “CHL.” Ambrose’s note happened to be one of those rare scribblings of praise.
After his time at the Pilot, Loos served as associate editor of the Irvine World News and helped start Orange County Business First, a weekly business publication in Irvine.
Scott Loos, Loos’ son, said he was a great father who was always there for his children for their school and sports events, though when it came to proofreading their homework, he was a tough editor.
“He’d get out one of those big, red grease pencils and go nuts on it,” Scott said with a laugh.
Aside from journalism, Loos enjoyed playing tennis and golf. His father, Eddie, was a golf pro, and Loos was writing a memoir about him before he died.
Loos served for a time on the Orange County Grand Jury, as well as his homeowners association, St. Mark Presbyterian Church and booster clubs for UC Irvine and Corona del Mar High School.
Loos is survived by his wife, Phoebe, son Scott, daughter Joan and five grandchildren. His first wife, Judith, and son Michael preceded him in death.
A public memorial service is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. April 12 at the clubhouse in Newport Beach’s Granville community, 1140 Granville Drive.
In lieu of flowers, Loos’ family asks that donations be made in his name to the South Pasadena High School scholarship fund or to the University of Colorado Boulder.
