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Jack Fenton, a former Salt Lake Tribune reporter who covered Salt Lake County government for more than two decades, has died at age 78. A gruff, blunt interviewer, Fenton was known for leaving his subjects nervous — but he also earned a reputation for fairness.

"He was such an independent, rebellious kind of guy and yet you knew he was all mush on the inside," said Jeri Cartwright, former spokeswoman for the county and a longtime friend of Fenton. "I really loved him because he toughened me up, and I needed that."

Fenton died early Saturday, suffering from a staph infection and related ailments. At one point he dwindled to a frail 104 pounds from his fighting weight of around 165, said his widow, Pat Fenton. He had regained about half the difference before his death.

No services are planned — "Jack didn't stand much on ceremony," Pat said — though there may be a private gathering of friends, not yet scheduled.

Fenton wrote for the Army Hometown News Service in Kansas City, Mo., during his military service, worked for the Ottawa Herald in Ottawa, Kan., after his discharge, and later for the Oregon City Enterprise Courier before coming to The Tribune, where he worked from 1964 to 1995 — most of that time covering the county beat.

"He knew it inside and out. He knew it better than a lot of elected officials," said Bart Barker, a former Salt Lake County commissioner and currently administrative aide to County Councilman Richard Snelgrove.

"He was definitely a classic. Out of all the reporters who covered the county during my tenure [from 1981 to 1991] he was the most interesting character, and you kind of grew to love him — even though I got burned by him a few times," Barker said. "He was no light touch."

Former Tribune environmental reporter Jim Woolf remembered how Fenton liked to poke not just the officials he covered, but also his editors at the paper.

"I recall Jack giving [former Tribune editor] Will Fehr fits by turning in apparently straightforward stories about the County Commission that contained just a word or phrase carefully selected to piss off one of our pompous elected officials. Fehr would review them and decide everything was fine and the next day field calls from furious commissioners. Jack also responded with a mischievous smile and a claim that he had no idea what the commissioner was talking about," Woolf wrote in an email. "I will miss him."

Fenton had a lifelong love of modern jazz and good food — the spicier the better. And he made his espresso/cappuccino maker a fixture in the news room in the Salt Lake County Government Center.

"He could make a cappuccino that would burn the hair out of your nose," said Steve Fidel, a Deseret News reporter who covered the county for the rival paper for a year or two during Fenton's stint and became friends with him. They often ended up going to lunch together, and "we'd have some of the hottest foreign foods I ever tried."

Fidel also recalls how Fenton would finish his shift for The Tribune and then head over to his second job, as a volunteer at the senior center.

"It's time," Fenton would say, "to go help the old farts."

Later, after his retirement from The Tribune, he worked with AARP and local senior citizen organizations and was recognized for his service.

Fenton is survived by his wife, daughter Katherine LeClaire, son Mark, two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.