William J. Zima, longtime Iowa journalist and journalism educator, died Friday (January 20, 2012)  at the Weiss Residential Care Facility in Thousand Oaks, CA., where he had been living the past few years. He was 89.

Bill, as he was known to colleagues and thousands of journalism students, worked 19 years at the Des Moines Register and Tribune and later 25 years as a faculty member at the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“Bill was your old-fashioned, hard-nosed journalist and a demanding teacher,” said Kenneth Starck, former director of the Iowa journalism school. “Students complained that his standards were too high. Then they graduated, went to work and discovered they had learned something to be grateful for.”

Many of his students went on to join the staffs of media such as Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times as well as news media throughout Iowa.

About teaching, Zima said, “You don’t really teach. You help students learn. You coach, badger, push--all this is true, especially in writing.”

Zima was born Dec. 16, 1922, in Chicago. He broke into journalism right out of high school as an apprentice reporter at the famed Chicago City News Bureau, where he worked from 1941-43.

In 1947 he graduated from Carthage College and in 1948 received an MA degree from the University of Iowa.

During World War II he served in the United States Navy as the communications officer aboard the USS Gunason (DE 795) in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

From 1948-56 he was variously a copy editor, reporter, assistant city editor and state editor at the Des Moines Register and its then-afternoon newspaper, the Des Moines Tribune. For 10 years, 1957-67, he was a member of the award-winning editorial page staff of the Des Moines Register. He also had worked for the Chicago Tribune and Milwaukee Journal.

In 1967 he joined the journalism faculty at the University of Iowa. In addition to teaching, he served three years as publisher of the University newspaper, the Daily Iowan.

For 25 years journalism students attended his courses that ranged from journalistic writing to news-editorial problems, from editorial writing to history of mass communication. But it was his reporting courses that drew student wrath followed, subsequently, with gratitude.

During spring semester of 1986 he taught at the University of Tennessee College of Communications, Knoxville, as the Edward J. Meeman Distinguished Visiting Professor.

At Tennessee he was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists for his contributions to journalism students. The Iowa student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named him its outstanding faculty member in 1987.

As a journalism faculty member at the University of Iowa, Zima served in a variety of administrative positions, including associate director (1980-85), head of undergraduate studies and acting director (1982-83). In 1980 and 1987 he led a group of students on a semester study program in London at the City University.

He authored or co-authored a number of articles published in professional and academic periodicals, including a highly-regarded  manual on basic reporting.  He also was active in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. 

He retired from the Iowa faculty in 1992.   He and wife Jaynane moved to Newbury Park in September 1997.

Zima is survived by Jaynane of Newbury Park, CA, and a daughter, Elizabeth of Elk Grove, CA. Other survivors include a grandson, Nathan J. Zima of Ira, MI.; and a brother, George Zima of Eagle River, WI. 

Preceding him in death were a son, Andrew W. Zima; his parents, John Zima and Elizabeth Sefcik; and two brothers, Richard and John.

A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Feb. 25 at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, 1251 Las Posas Rd., Camarillo, CA.

The family asks that any memorial donations be made to the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication through the University of Iowa Foundation, Iowa City, Iowa 52244-4550.