Longtime Mail Tribune editor, columnist dies at 88; he wrote his own obituary, which daughter says ‘makes full sense’
During the more than 30 years he spent reporting on the local food scene, former Mail Tribune editor, columnist and beloved food critic Cleve Twitchell always refused special treatment from local eateries.
Following his death March 14, his favorite restaurant jumped at the chance to honor his memory — and finally impart some special treatment — and former readers, colleagues and local foodies shared favorite stories and photos of yellowed news clippings from Twitchell’s reviews.
Family members announced Twitchell’s death last week and published his obituary that he wrote for himself — reportedly to ensure accuracy.
Posted to the website of the Rogue Valley Times, launched in 2023 in the wake of the closure of Twitchell’s longtime news home, the obituary was published March 21.
Cleveland Edwards Twitchell, which he noted in his self-penned obituary was to honor his two grandmothers’ maiden names, was born May 8, 1937, in New York City, making him a lifelong Giants fan.
Cutting his teeth on journalism by writing for his high school newspaper, Twitchell applied and was accepted to Harvard but instead ventured west to San Francisco to work in the newspaper field. After briefly attending San Francisco State College, he dropped out and joined a group of young entrepreneurs in launching an entertainment newspaper called the Bay Window, which Twitchell dubbed a forerunner of the Mail Tribune’s Tempo, a weekly entertainment and TV guide section that came out every Friday.
Prior to landing in Medford in 1961, he wrote reviews for the weekly San Francisco Progress, worked as a wire desk clerk for the daily San Francisco Chronicle and spent a stint as reporter and editor for the Alhambra Post-Advocate in Southern California.
During his Mail Tribune career, Twitchell estimated writing some 9,000 articles and about 200,000 headlines during his years working on the copy desk, which former colleagues recently pointed out that he did with just two index fingers, typing at blazing speed.
Twitchell was the primary founder of Tempo, launched in 1969, and served as its editor until he retired in 2002. His restaurant review, “The Long Weekend,” ran for more than 30 of his 40-plus years at the former paper.
Former Mail Tribune reporter JoNel Aleccia remembered Twitchell as “mild-mannered and kind, with an understated sense of humor” and “a monster of copy production, turning out the daily Lifestyles section and the weekly miracle that was Tempo.”
“He was a local celebrity and a true community journalist, dedicated to helping his neighbors know the best place to go for a nice dinner or a daytrip,” she wrote to the Times.
Former Mail Tribune copy desk chief Rob Galvin, who also was the Times’ opinion editor before retiring in 2024, remembered Twitchell as “one of the first people who made me feel welcomed at the Mail Tribune” when joining the paper in 1999. “He really helped me out as I was finding my place in the newsroom.”
Galvin said recent mention of the Mail Tribune while golfing resulted in unprompted mentions of Twitchell. “They remembered his restaurant reviews and appreciated how Cleve was always supportive of local businesses trying to make it,” Galvin said.
“For someone to be remembered that fondly, so many years after he had retired, really says something about the presence Cleve established in the community.”
Former longtime Mail Tribune editor Bob Hunter called Twitchell the longtime heart and soul of the former newspaper, with Friday print runs of Tempo bigger than any other days.
“Cleve was truly an institution, both within the Mail Tribune newsroom and with our readers. … If you went to a restaurant in the Rogue Valley, there was a very good chance you would see a review from Cleve hanging somewhere near the entrance,” Hunter said.
“He was also a very nice man. You could hardly call him a food critic, because he was rarely critical of the restaurants. To his credit, he supported them and wanted to see them thrive. One of his harshest criticisms, as I remember it, was that ‘The split pea soup was somewhat lukewarm.’”
Stories about Twitchell made their way onto social media following his death. His daughter, Central Point resident Wendy Cooper, said one local restaurant owner said a visit by her dad prompted a bigger reaction than visits by county health inspectors.
One restaurant owner recounted exasperation when a young employee included extra food and special treatment for Twitchell. “Every time we went in a restaurant, he didn’t want people to know who he was,” Cooper said. “He would tell us, ‘Don’t ever go somewhere and tell them how you are. I don’t want you getting free stuff.’”
Hoping to gather for a family meal in Twitchell’s honor, Cooper said the family’s favorite restaurant, The Arbor House in Talent, being closed Sundays almost prompted a backup plan until Arbor House owner Leah Calhoun reached out.
“Leah called me and said, ‘We will open for Cleve!’” Cooper said.
Calhoun, who catered Twitchell’s 80th birthday, counted him a longtime favorite.
“One of the first times he came in I was maybe four or five and I told him a dirty joke, wildly inappropriate for a little girl to tell, and he still kept coming back time after time,” she said with a laugh.
“He really became family to us.”
Cooper said her dad was the same with his four kids and extended family as with colleagues and community members: kind, funny and forgiving. She recalled life as a “reporter’s kid,” being volunteered for occasional staged photos and wandering the original Mail Tribune building occupied prior to the longtime North Fir Street location.
“I remember the tube would shoot down to the press room. They would type something up and shove it in there and zoom it down. It was way before the new building was put in,” she said.
Cooper, who said her father died from complications from pneumonia following recent health issues, “was his witty self until his final days.”
“Being 88 is nothing to squawk at. He lived a good long life, and I rest easy on that, but it’s still hard to know that he’s gone. He was such a presence,” she said.
“The fact that he wrote his own obituary makes me smile. People look at you like, ‘He did what?’ But if you knew dad, you would understand that it makes full sense.”
Twitchell’s celebration of life, to include reading of his written list, “How would Cleve like to be remembered?” will be held at Horton Plaza Retirement Community from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, March 29. In lieu of flowers, Twitchell wrote, in his obituary, that donations could be made to the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program.
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.