John Griffin, former editorial page editor for The Advertiser, died of cancer last night. Griffin was 80. Advertiser file photo

Griffin, 80, died of cancer, a friend of the family said this morning. His wife, Sue Yim, is a former managing editor of features at The Advertiser.

A longtime journalist, Griffin got his journalistic start in post-war Hawai'i, working as a columnist and editor at the University of Hawai'i student newspaper, Ka Leo O Hawai'i, while pursuing an English degree.

During the latter part of World War II, he served in the Navy air corps.

Griffin had quit high school "to get in the action," he wrote in a column marking the 50th anniversary of the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan.

Training at the time with a bomber crew that was certain to join any invasion of Japan, Griffin wrote of his mixed emotions. The use of such terrible weapons against civilians probably saved his life and were probably the only way to stop the fighting.

"It was that kind of bitter war," he wrote.

His first full-time job was at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1953. Griffin worked as a copyboy — once a traditional entry-level newspaper job — before graduating to the reporting ranks.

In 1955, Griffin began reporting for the Associated Press and bagged datelines in such exotic Asian destinations as Manila, Indonesia, Singapore and Saigon.

Griffin was hired by The Advertiser in 1961 to cover Hawai'i politics after then-Editor-in-Chief George Chaplin interviewed him in the Saigon Airport.

Griffin had one more stop before he became editorial page editor. From 1963 to 1964, he took a leave of absence from The Advertiser to work for the Peace Corps, evaluating programs in Asia and Africa.

As editorial page editor, Griffin brought conscience, reason and a willingness to slam hard at any deserving editorial target. In more than 15,000 editorials, he sought to sell ideas, influence the course of public affairs and stimulate rational thought in his community.

But even though he worked in the one section of the newspaper allowed to rant openly, Griffin, a political liberal, always took the high road. He balanced every editorial decision with fairness.

"He held strong opinions on a lot of issues, but he always tried to listen to the other side and to recognize that reasonable people could reach different conclusions from the same set of facts," said former Advertiser editor Gerry Keir. "He never wanted to go overboard or impugn evil or bad motives to the other side. He would always try to make a rational argument."

Griffin was a skilled wordsmith who used language "as a scalpel instead of a bludgeon," Keir told readers when he announced Griffin's retirement in February 1993.

Keir wrote that Griffin was "perfect for the job."

Of course, there were times when Griffin's editorials infuriated readers. In February 1989, supporters of Ferdinand Marcos planned to burn a paper effigy of Griffin until police told them that was illegal.

So the protestors used a pocket knife, several kitchen knives and a handsaw with large jagged teeth to hack apart the effigy.

Griffin was genuinely amused by that.

"He believed in people arguing with him," Keir said. "When you run an editorial page, you like to think that every once in a while you tick someone off — or else you aren't doing anything at all."

Former Advertiser staffer Jerry Burris, who succeeded Griffin as editorial page editor, praised Griffin's curiosity for the world around him.

"He tried out things, plunged into everything that happened around town," he said. "If someone was proposing a new way of looking at things, he was the first one to go find out what he could."

This meant that Griffin would spend time reporting his editorials as he sought to put current events in context.

"A common theme in his writings was generational change and trying to understand what was happening, changes in society and people," Burris said. "He was always musing about that. What was this generation like and how would they be different than the last one? It was an ongoing question in his mind."

In a newsroom where deadline pressures, breaking news and emotional issues are a daily reality, Griffin maintained an enviable serenity. He espoused Buddhist principles and meditated, Burris said.