Traverse City Record-Eagle

Opinion

Life In Focus: A photographer's journey

EDITORS NOTE: Record-Eagle photojournalist Doug Tesner was sick, badly so. A lifelong smoker, Tesner, 64, battled lung cancer that spread to his lymph nodes. His outlook was bleak, and he was in Munson Medical Center for treatment. Tesner and his wife, Peggy, agreed to allow Record-Eagle reporter Lindsay VanHulle and photojournalist Jan-Michael Stump to follow their journey, document his life and examine an illness that each year claims about 160,000 lives in this country.

"Patient awaits cancer's toll" is the first in this series. Other articles:

July 2, 2010

Record-Eagle, readers lost a good pal

The Record-Eagle and scores of his photographic subjects lost a friend this week when Doug Tesner succumbed to lung cancer at age 64.

Doug joined the Record-Eagle as a staff photographer in 2004. He was a hard worker who always seemed to deliver the shots his editors needed.

He could be a crusty bird, but Doug laughed a lot and provided his co-workers plenty of comedic fodder. He was an atrocious speller, and some of his bungled, would-be cutlines became the stuff of newsroom lore. We recalled those classics over the past week as Doug slipped away. He gave us a chance to laugh again and fend off our sadness, if only briefly.

Doug and his wife, Peggy, showed great courage when they allowed us to follow and document his final weeks. The words and images our staff produced perhaps will serve as Doug's final artistic contribution.

He served our readers well, and we'll miss him.

We already do.

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