Newspaper executives like to say no one in the business is truly indispensable, but that’s less true of some than others. Dan Savage comes closer than most to being indispensable in the recent history of the Tribune-Herald , particularly during his critical seven-month stint as interim publisher beginning in August.

Although Savage proved a sure and steady hand during his decade-long run as Trib publisher ending in 2005, colleagues, civic leaders, advertisers and readers should celebrate his more recent tenure as publisher, a post he assumed at the request of friend Clifton Robinson upon the latter’s purchase of this paper last summer. In fact, he’s the reason that the Robinsons ultimately decided to buy the paper.

While he definitely shook things up, he also insisted upon a return to common-sense business practices that reassured many of us at the Trib as well as our customers, whether they’re businesses interested in effective advertising strategies or readers seeking timely delivery of a quality and informative product.

Evidence of the latter concern could be found in his occasional habit of calling readers who canceled their subscriptions, just to discover why. That’s not the sort of thing that most newspaper publishers can be troubled with, and it wouldn’t surface in most textbooks on proper management. But Savage wanted readers to like the Trib. He wanted to know when they were unhappy, too.

With a resolution that suggested time was fast slipping away, he promptly discontinued some Trib publications he considered journalistically inferior or financially reckless. He demanded massive improvements in others. Knowing the importance of the kind of content that only a daily newspaper can regularly provide, he significantly expanded the size of our newsroom to get more reporters on our streets.

More than some publishers, he reveled in the daily triumphs of the newsroom, which have long been considerable at the Trib, which prides itself on its watchdog reporting role. He also reinvigorated editorial board meetings as a place for vibrant debate on a variety of issues, even if it sometimes took a while for all to reach consensus. He felt strongly that the Opinion page was the most important after Page One.

Savage accomplished much in his long newspaper career, both during his earlier stint here and elsewhere. But his willingness to come out of retirement to lead us once more, during a trying period for the newspaper industry in the thick of a recession, rates praise from all who see the paper as a vital institution in a thriving community.

We wish Dan our best as he returns to other adventures. We prefer to imagine him riding into some spectacular sunset on a beloved BMW motorcycle, far from his home, yet happy on the winding, many-splendored road of life, even as we’re left to build upon the foundation he quietly but devotedly forged for us all.

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