The measure of a man — Deseret Morning News editor John Hughes leaves big shoes to fill

John Hughes, editor of the Deseret Morning News, likes to meet newsworthy people. He likes, he says, "to take their measure."

Taking the measure of Hughes, on the other hand, is a task.

Only the foolhardy would play "top this" with him. Brag about your sea cruise and he could — if he wanted — mention the Royal Yacht and The Queen of England. Show him your writing award and he could — if he cared to — display his Pulitzer.

Most of the time, John Hughes holds the trump card. And most of the time, he declines to play it.

That makes him a tough read. It also has made him a fellow "well-met" in places ranging from the working-class cafes of Africa to the White House lawn.

He is discriminating without practicing discrimination, a man of class who doesn't trade on class.

"I was terrified when John Hughes arrived," says Jay Evensen, who, as editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page, met with Hughes almost every day. "His credentials were incredibly impressive, and he had won a Pulitzer Prize for writing firsthand about things in Indonesia. Here I was, expected to share with him my ideas on the nation's foreign policy.

"But he never came across as someone who had to prove anything to anyone. From the start, he was gracious and deferential — a teacher, a mentor, willing to send me places where I could learn on my own, always willing to share his many experiences. The past decade has been the greatest learning experience of my life."

And now, after a decade at the Deseret Morning News, Hughes will be moving on. He's not retiring. His friend, columnist William Safire, advised him to "never retire." He'll simply be shifting south to teach at Brigham Young University.

But his 10 years at the newspaper have been watershed years. The paper is different now than when he arrived. It has a new name. It's a morning paper. It has a growing circulation. But more than that, the paper and its people have a certain focus and self-confidence that bears the Hughes stamp.

Typically, his regret is he couldn't do more.

"Getting the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize would have been nice," Hughes says. "I sat on the Pulitzer jury and know some of the investigations we did got into the top 20, but it's very hard for a regional newspaper with a funny name to win a Pulitzer. There's a lot of politicking."

Born in Wales — a place that has produced more than its share of Utahns — Hughes knew at an early age he would be a man who gets the word out.