Whether it was dispatching reporters with lightning speed to a raging disaster or chuckling over a quirky feature story he was editing, Allen Matthews cherished newspapering to the core of his soul. He wrote and edited at The San Francisco Chronicle for 26 years, and after leaving the paper in 2016 he continued his craft and retained a fierce passion for journalism for the rest of his life.
Matthews died May 18 in his sleep of cardiac arrest at his home in San Leandro after a long illness. He was 63.
As a descendant of pioneers — a third-generation Oaklander and a fifth-generation Californian – Matthews was an avid history buff, once tracking down 49er-era wagon ruts in Nevada and undertaking an exhaustive tour of California’s Franciscan Missions with his wife and daughter.
But it was the business and craft of producing the news that thrilled Matthews the most. After attending UC Berkeley in the mid-1980s, he broke into journalism with short stints at the Lodi News-Sentinel and Vallejo Times-Herald before signing on to The Chronicle, the paper he’d longed to work for since he was a child.
“Allen was a consummate newspaperman, whose mastery of craft not only included his exceptional skills for reporting, writing and editing, but also extended to his superb judgment and deep knowledge of the production imperative – all the countless, complex and unseen-to-the-reader moving parts required to publish a daily newspaper,” said former Chronicle Managing Editor Jerry Roberts. “Perhaps most importantly, he also had an early and perceptive grasp of the unprecedented technological changes that abruptly transformed our industry in the digital age.”
“He was truly a singular journalistic talent.”
Starting at The Chronicle as a copy editor in 1990, Matthews quickly worked his way up to become an assigning editor, working on everything from silly features to pieces that sent people to prison. He once said he was “particularly proud of the latter and fond of the former” — but it was as a breaking news editor and systems manager that he left his biggest impact.
From the Polly Klaas kidnapping and statewide firestorms to the Columbine High massacre in Colorado and September 11 terror attacks in New York, Matthews was a master at dispatching the newsroom’s writers anywhere at any time.
“Allen took on a wide range of jobs – copy editor, reporter, city desk editor,” said former Chronicle Deputy Managing Editor for News Linda Strean. “His genius was as a master of logistics – he was determined to get the news to readers. That meant getting Chronicle reporters across the country after 9/11 even when no planes were flying, and quickly recruiting a small army of correspondents to help them out. He simply made things happen.”
“I used to dread it when the phone rang at 3 a.m., because I knew who it was,” said Kevin Fagan, a longtime former Chronicle reporter. “I’d pick up the phone and hear Allen’s cheery voice say, ‘Hi there, ready to work?’ and soon I’d be in my car or on a plane going to something awful, like an air crash or a triple murder.
“News was second nature to Allen, and he worked as hard as anyone he sent scrambling. Treated us like family. Old school newsman to his bones – right down to wearing a suit and fedora to work for many of those years.”
A crack strategist with complex media systems, his meticulous organization of The Chronicle’s byzantine coverage for election nights was legendary. He eventually moved into the technological side of the business, overseeing the newsroom’s transition to computer pagination, the introduction of new color presses, and innovative funding solutions as the newspaper business shrank in the 2000s. By the time he left The Chronicle, he was a deputy managing editor.
After subsequently working as director of editorial operations at the San Francisco Examiner and executive director of The Daily Californian at UC Berkeley, Matthews became a freelance editor and writer.
“Allen’s veins coursed with Chronicle ink and his gracious guidance made ‘The Voice of the West’ – the paper’s nickname that he wore on his belt buckle – a joyful place to work,” said longtime former reporter and columnist Steve Rubenstein. “He was a kind and caring mentor to young journalists, especially those who hailed from his beloved Daily Cal at UC Berkeley. “He lived and loved newspapers and the people who put them out.”
Born Aug. 24, 1962, to William and Carmel Matthews at Peralta Hospital in Oakland, Matthews attended Oakland and Lodi (San Joaquin County) schools and then UC Berkeley, where he worked for the Daily Californian. He met his future wife, Deborah Wandell, while they were both working at the Vallejo Times Herald, and they married in 1991 at the Mills College Chapel.
Their daughter, Emily, was born in 1995 – and true to his love of history, Matthews often noted that that date would have been Robert F. Kennedy’s 70th birthday. Matthews’ father worked on Senator Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign and Emily, who today is a director of the Media Company public affairs and consulting firm in San Francisco, was named after her great-grandmother — who died the day Senator Kennedy was shot.
“Allen was many things: A journalist, Daily Cal loyalist, history obsessive, tireless jogger, hat fanatic, shameless punster and devoted father,” said Wandell. “He had enough newsroom stories for several lifetimes, but Emily was his great pride.”
Matthews and Wandell separated in 2018 but never divorced and remained good friends, editing each other’s copy and talking daily as he settled in San Leandro and she in Truckee.
In 2021 he reconnected with Heidi Ness, whom he had dated in college. They became partners and enjoyed cooking, gardening, hiking and traveling, and had what Matthews described as “an epic private tour of San Simeon last year.”
“My dear friend and confidante Allen and I created a home environment to fulfill our dream of supporting each other in our later years as soulmates,” said Ness. “We shared many passions and deep understandings, and I was honored to be his caregiver through his final moments.”
Matthews served on the boards of several nonprofits: The Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co., the Daily Californian Education Foundation, The Chronicle’s Season of Sharing Fund, the California News Publishers Association, the California Press Foundation and the Piedmont Swim Team. He was instrumental in founding the Daily Californian Education Foundation in 1988 – and he vigorously promoted a tradition of having the Cal Marching Band noisily troop through the newsroom on the eve of the annual Big Game.
Matthews was preceded in death by his parents and his aunts and uncles Charles G. Cottrell, Dorothy O. Cottrell, Harvey J. Cottrell, A. Gordon Gray, John E. Lloyd and Mary M. Lloyd, as well as his father-in-law, John L. Potter.
He is survived by his wife, his daughter, who lives in Oakland, and Ness, who lived with Matthews in San Leandro. He is also survived by many cousins, including Sandy Silva, nephews and nieces and his mother-in-law, Judith Potter.
“Assuming there is a heaven and he makes it past the bouncers, he’s telling stories with the gang from the Dear Old Chronicle. Plus Frank Mills (Matthews’ late best friend),” Matthews wryly predicted about himself in a note to his wife when they were discussing his pending obituary, which he wanted to have a hand in, being the eternal newspaperman.
He asked that donations be made to the Daily Californian Education Foundation, 2483 Hearst Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709 .
Obituary and photo have been republished with the permission of the family of Allen Matthews.
Matthews was a key advisor to The Piedmont Exedra before it launched. We send our condolences to his family.