Former Missourian columnist, writer dies

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) -- Greg Sellnow, a longtime reporter, editor and columnist for the Post-Bulletin of Rochester -- and one-time reporter for the Southeast Missourian -- has died, the Rochester newspaper reported Sunday.

Sellnow, 54, was driving home from the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament in St. Paul late Friday when he apparently had a medical emergency, Managing Editor Jay Furst said. The vehicle he was driving left the road and came to rest in a field. Passengers in the vehicle were not injured, the newspaper reported.

Sellnow was a Post-Bulletin reporter, editor and columnist for 26 years. He had been editorial page editor since 2007. He worked as a reporter in his hometown, as well for the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau and at Bismarck, N.D., before joining the Post-Bulletin in 1986 as a reporter.

As a young reporter for the Southeast Missourian in the early 1980s, Sellnow wrote a weekly column titled "For what it's worth," and was the police and courts reporter. On that beat he covered several high-profile murders, including those of Dr. Margaret H. Smith, Margie Call and Mildred Wallace.

"Greg was a one-of-a-kind, ink-in-the-blood newspaperman," Furst said. "He was a magnificent reporter with a great sense of humor and a genuine interest and compassion for the people he wrote about. He loved his work -- he cared intensely about his community and the importance of journalism that actually informs and helps people."

Sellnow was a native of Brainerd and a 1980 graduate of the journalism program at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

He is survived by his wife, Shelly, and three children, Caitlin, Abby and Cam. Funeral arrangements are pending.

"Greg's death is an incredible loss to his friends and colleagues, to all the readers he touched over the years and to the Rochester region," Furst said. "This news is so hard for all of us to accept. We're grieving with his family and will miss all the talents and camaraderie he shared with us over the years."

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Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com