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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Knight Ridder's Alvah Chapman dies


MIAMI -- Alvah H. Chapman Jr., a Knight Ridder executive, third-generation newspaperman and former Miami Herald president and CEO, died Thursday at 87.

Chapman spent a traditional family Christmas Eve at his Coconut Grove home, reading the Bible wit
h his wife, Betty, their two daughters and several grandchildren, then succumbed to pneumonia on Christmas Day.

He was afflicted with Parkinson's disease, suffered strokes in recent years and broke a hip in March.

Georgia-born and Citadel-educated, Chapman brought his family to Miami in 1960. He evolved into a devoted and energetic champion of his adopted hometown and became the unifying force behind scores of civic endeavors.

Chapman came to Miami as company patriarch James L. Knight's executive assistant, quickly moving up the ranks to become the Herald's general manager and president. From 1976-1989, he was CEO and chairman of the newspaper company Knight Ridder, the now-defunct corporate parent of the Herald and the Akron Beacon Journal.

Former Herald publisher David Lawrence Jr. said Chapman ''cared deeply about good journalism.''

Click on the headline to read a four-take obituary in the Miami Herald. Or Google other sources including one by the McClatchy Washington Bureau.

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