Quin Loendorf, a 2011 sports copy editing intern, was being remembered for his brilliance, talent and good disposition after his death in a car accident Aug. 26 in Montana. He had just finished interning for the summer on the sports desk at The Denver Post.
Quin was killed when his car rolled over near his hometown, Valier, Mont. He was a journalism and Japanese major at the University of Montana.
He was selected in DJNF’s national competition last December based on his application, resume, grades and test score. He had interned at several local newspapers and was a copy editor for the university’s daily, the Kaimin.
Quin wrote in his essay, “I may be from a small town, but that does not change the fact I have large ambitions. I have grown up valuing every opportunity I have been given – every interview I have conducted, every award I have been presented, and every responsibility I have had the privilege to take on has been incredibly valuable to me.”
Charlyne Berens, director of the Sports Copy Editing residency at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, who trained Quin, wrote in an email message, “The interns at the UNL residency always become quite close because they spend almost 24 hours a day together, and Quin became a valued member of the group. He also was a regular and faithful contributor to our DJNF Facebook group, so it felt as if we’d been talking on and off all summer. The news of his death was a real blow to me and to the other interns.”
Angela Clemmons, former sports copy chief, wrote: “Quin was a great kid. I was his supervisor at The Denver Post and got to learn a lot about him, and enjoyed his work, too. I was really looking forward to continuing on as a professional mentor for him — and, of course, as a girl from Montana, I took special interest in him.”
She added, “We bonded as Montana kids, and we talked a lot about home. And I like to think that in his last summer, one spent away from Montana, home was something we pondered and discussed and treasured together.”
