Two Denver Post mainstays talk about laid-off managing editor Gary Clark

Susan Greene.

Word that Denver Post managing editor Gary Clark was among six managers laid off at the newspaper yesterday prompted plenty of positive comments about his integrity and commitment to journalism from staffers who've worked with him during his six-year stint at the broadsheet. Among those singing his praises and wishing him the best were Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene, who collaborated on "Trashing the Truth," a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize that's among the finest pieces of reportage published here in recent years.

"We'd go out and do our reporting and uncover things that we were really excited about," Greene says. "Then we'd come back to the newsroom and tell him, and he'd be as excited as we were. That's the kind of editor you want, and that's the kind of editor Gary is."

Miles Moffeit.

"His influence always helped shape our investigations, from tossing out strategies to doing the final line edits," Moffeit adds via e-mail. "Thing was, he stayed engaged at almost every phase of a project, often pulling you into the office to find out how an interview went or pushing you to get the human side of a statistic.

"But the best measure of his success is that he steered stories that led to acts of Congress and state laws that protect the vulnerable. One of the first things he said when he introduced himself to the staff six years ago was something like, 'I'm about journalism that makes a difference.' He delivered on that promise."