BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

I was listening with half an ear to cable news Monday when I heard a correspondent reporting from the Penn State campus on the death of legendary coach Joe Paterno.  She said people didn’t think he died of cancer.  They think he died of a broken heart.

I can believe that. My dad used to tell me shortly before he died that you know when you are through living, and it is time to go.

From what I have read, Joe Paterno’s life, outside his family, was Penn State and the people of State College, PA. They were family, too.  He gave them all he had: sthe majority of his time on earth; his talent (he could have gone to the pros but stayed there and won over 400 games, 24 bowl games and two national championships) large sums of money (news accounts put his donations to the school north of $4.1 million. Most of all, though, he gave them his heart.

The coach got trapped in the steely web of a nasty public scandal, woven by frightened college officials searching for scapegoats, and by the media horde,  always attracted to the possibility that even someone greatly admired could be tainted.

So there was Joe, an icon, a legend. Why not toss some innuendo his way?  Why not blame him?  Why not harass Paterno? They all piled on.  The Board fired the coach last November at the age of 84, suffering from lung cancer, at the close of a truly, remarkable, storied 48-year career as head coach. The Board gave themselves absolution from further guilt and moved on. The media got the kind of red-meat feeding frenzy it craves. Finally, in a touch of tragic irony, Coach Paterno was mistreated to the end. Media spread the rumor of his death 14 hours before he died.

May he rest in peace, for at the end he had none here.

Editor’s Note: Mike Johnson is a former journalist, who worked on the Ford White House staff and served as press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel, prior to entering the private sector. He is co-author of a book, Surviving Congress, a guide for congressional staff. He is currently a principal with the OB-C Group.