A friend of mine died over the weekend. I found out by listening to the radio and it came as a shock. One of those things that when you hear it your heart drops and your stomach turns.

 Her name was Michelle Parker. This month, she was celebrating her 29th anniversary as a news reporter at KCCI Television in Des Moines, Iowa. My hometown. I can't remember watching Channel 8 and not seeing Michelle Parker reporting.

 She was a pioneer in a sense, one of the first (and few) black females to work on the air at an Iowa television station. I don't think she ever saw her work as "groundbreaking". I always got the sense she never wanted to be seen as a "black news reporter" but as a news reporter who happened to be black.

 My personal experience with Michelle Parker began in my late teens. I was fortunate enough to get work as an on-air news reporter at WHO Radio in Des Moines when I was 17 years old. One of my first beats was to cover Des Moines City Council. In the beginning it completely took me by surprise. I had no idea what was happening. It was Michelle Parker who saw me drowning in my ignorance and came to my rescue, explaining the process. It got to the point where I began to understand how the council worked, all thanks to her willingness to help a fellow journalist. Over time, she would stop me several times and say "I heard your city council report on WHO and your reporting was right!" It was a much needed boost and was always appreciated.

 Which brings me back to yesterday and hearing the news of her death. She was 52 years old. She died of apparent heart failure. At the time she initially fell ill, she was attending a birthday party for a fellow KCCI employee.  One of her friends. The night before she died, she had won an award for her reporting from the Iowa Associated Press.

 She was a good person. I wish I knew her better. What I did know of her was someone who was kind, never jealous or mean, and always willing to help a stranger and make a friend as a result.

 Good-bye Michelle Parker.