SOLOMON JONES: In 1972, when Stone became a political columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News, I was 5-years-old. There was no Internet, and neither cable television nor social media existed. There was only the newspaper, and the images on its pages could determine how an entire community was framed. That’s why Stone’s image mattered. For 20 years, Stone’s face, staring out at me from the pages of the newspaper, communicated what was possible. That face—with skin a little darker than that of the other columnists—told me that journalism was an option for me. Adorned with glasses, and an intellect that shone brightly, that face showed me that a black man could be celebrated for his mind. But Stone’s image sent messages to other men as well—men whose reasons for trusting Stone were more complex than my own. Over his two decades as a columnist, more than 75 murder suspects surrendered to Stone rather than to law-enforcement authorities, according to the Daily News. I believe they did so because Stone wrote with an unyielding sense of integrity. He called it as he saw it, and an entire city respected him for his candor. MORE