MERCURY NEWS EDITOR BOB INGLE PASSES AWAY

 

San Jose, California Mercury News editor Bob Ingle, Mercury News executive editor and Knight Ridder vice president who launched America’s first news website in 1995, passed away Tuesday, March 16 in Sarasota, California. He was 81.

In May 1993, the Mercury News became one of the first U.S. newspapers to deliver breaking news and other content online, via its Mercury Center partnership with America Online. In early 1995, Mercury Center Web — the nation’s first news website — went live.

In his 38-year career with Knight Ridder, Ingle led the Mercury News to two Pulitzer Prizes —in 1986 for exposing Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos’ hidden wealth and in 1990 for coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. He began his newspaper career in 1962 as a Miami Herald copy editor and advanced to managing editor. In 1981 he replaced Larry Jinks as the Mercury News executive editor until 1995.

The Mercury News got the Bill Farr Freedom of Information Award in 1989 for its battle to force authorities to reveal public information.  From 1988 to mid-1995, the Mercury News — under Ingle and then-managing editor Jerry Ceppos — went to court 61 times to open records, court proceedings or meetings that should have been public.

In 1995, he received the California Press Association’s Justus F. Craemer Newspaper Executive of the Year Award for leading the Mercury News to Pulitzer Prizes and for his “pioneering work in electronic media.”

The University of Iowa graduate and Sioux City, Iowa native delivered the Des Moines Register on his bike as a teenager.

Ingle is survived by his wife, Sandy Reed, of Saratoga; his daughter, Julie Ingle Valdez and two grandchildren, Utah and Wyatt Valdez, all of Castro Valley; and his brother-in-law, former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, now of Monument, Colorado.

Memorial service plans will be announced at a later date. The family suggests contributions in his memory may be made to the nonprofit Mercury News Wish Book fund.

THRITY UMRIGAR AT BOOK BASH

 

Bookwhacker time!

Former BJ columnist/prolific author Thrity Umrigar will participate in “1,000 Books: Battle of the Books” of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18.

James Mustich, author of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die, is the main attraction.

Thrity will be joined by Mary Bly, who writes romance novels as Eloisa James; “What Should I Read Next?” podcast host Anne Bogel;  Andromeda Romano-Lax, journalist, travel writer, and author of historical fiction; and Donna Seaman, book reviewer and Editor for Adult Books at Booklist.

BETTY JAYCOX'S SON PASSES AWAY

 Son of Betty Jaycox,

Ed Jaycox, passes away

Ed “Kim” Jaycox, son of BJ Society Department legend Betty Jaycox, passed away Monday, March 1 in his Washington, DC home.

His remarkable life overshadows even his legendary mother’s.

You can read all the details in Kim’s obituary:

Edward van Kleeck Jaycox, Jr. died on March 1, 2021 at the age of 83 at his home in Washington, DC. Known by most by his nickname "Kim", Jaycox was a pioneer in the fight against global poverty and spent most of his adult life traveling the world for that cause. He was a path-maker, a mentor, an adventurer, a sailor, a bird watcher, a story-teller, and a benefactor.

The cause of death, according to his wife Victoria Holt Jaycox, was cancer.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Jaycox was the son of Edward ("Jay") and Betty Jaycox. He graduated from the Hill School in 1954 and received a scholarship from the United States Navy to attend Yale University where he graduated Cum Laude in 1959. Jaycox then served four years as a junior officer aboard the USS Valley Forge.

In 1964, Jaycox received a Masters in International Affairs and a Certificate in African Studies from Columbia University. A traveling fellowship from Columbia allowed him to travel to Africa that summer. Writing about his journey, Jaycox related that "I wanted to be on the ground, finding out what was happening among Africans as they transitioned to independence. So I made the trek thumbing my way by truck or private car, by bus, boat and train, and with only two flights, one across the jungle of central Congo and one from Monrovia to Dakar. A sock full of newly-minted Kennedy half dollars helped to ease my way."

Africa was then the main focus of Jaycox's thirty-two year career at the World Bank. He began in 1964 as a Junior Professional, appraising projects all over the world, then rose through the ranks to a position from 1984 to 1996 as Vice-President for Africa, where he oversaw the Bank's $3.8 billion annual leading program to over 40 African countries.

When he began, most countries' economies were in free-fall, and relations with the Bank were poor. Because the political situations were so fragile, Jaycox devised a way to funnel billions of dollars in funds and debt relief from new sources, so that over 30 countries resumed per-capita income growth for the first time in 25 years. In 1991, he also launched the African Capacity Building Foundation aimed at enabling countries to develop using their own resources. As of today, that Foundation has awarded $700 million in assistance to 48 countries

After retiring from the World Bank in 1996, Jaycox set up the African Infrastructure Fund, one of the first private equity funds focused on investing in Africa, with Nelson Mandela as chair of the Advisory Board. Despite some initial resistance to the idea that private investors could make good returns honestly in Africa, the fund was ultimately very successful and has been succeeded by a number of others.

Jaycox is survived by his wife of 61 years, Victoria Holt Jaycox, the daughter of Victor and Rowena Holt, and by her daughters, Tamara Jaycox Kessler and Lisa Jaycox, both of Chevy Chase, Maryland; by their spouses, Lewis Kessler and Andrew Morral; by granddaughters, Olivia and Isabel Kessler, and Ada and Celia Morral; and by his sister, Jill Jaycox Dietrich of Akron, Ohio.

In 2005, in response to the premature death of Dr. Dunstan Wai, a friend and World Bank colleague from South Sudan, Jaycox and others founded a charity in his memory to provide scholarships to girls in South Sudan and Uganda to attend secondary school and beyond. The Dunstan Wai Memorial Charitable Foundation now supports some 150 girls in local schools. Gifts may be made in Jaycox's memory to the Dunstan Wai Memorial Charitable Foundation. www.dwmcf.org .

CIRCULATION'S DAN LIAS PASSES AWAY

 

Dan, Dan the Beacon Man, as his family called him, has passed away in Houston.

Daniel J. Lias was a unique and impressive and patriotic former BJ Circulation home delivery manager.

Dan’s daughter, Melissa, describes him this way:

“My dad will forever be Dan Dan the Beacon Man. He is a legend in so many senses. I'm so proud of my dad. He has made me who I am today and will forever be.

“I am setting up a charitable fund in his name for an organization he loved very deeply.”

That would be Wreaths Across America, which honors America’s fallen military heroes, including Dan’s oldest brother Dayre, a retired Air Force colonel. The goal is $5,000. The project lays wreaths at more than 2,100 locations in America, including Houston National Cemetery and in Alliance, Massillon and Smithville in Ohio. December 18 is National Wreaths Across America Day.

Dan always flew the Stars and Stripes outside his home and volunteered his efforts for the Kiwanis Club of Blue Lagoon Foundation based in Pensacola, Florida, which in 1914 got the first Naval Air Station commissioned by the Navy.

The URL for the Dan Lias Wreaths Across America online donations in Dan’s memory:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/3835491913199199/5251656368208965/

That’s the family’s preference. If you want use the Postal Service to donate in Dan’s memory, make your check out to

Wreaths Across America

In the Memo on the lower left write:

In Memory of Dan Lias

From His BJ friend

The address to send the donation is:

Kiwanis Club of Big Lagoon Foundation

Att: BLKF Wreaths

10447 Sorento Road

Suite 100

PMB #19

Pensacola, FL 32507

Dan's brother is the spearhead of this group, and Dan volunteered with his brother.

Dan’s widow is Susan Lias. Melissa Lias and Kevin Lias are Dan and Susan’s children. Brooklyn Rose is his granddaughter. Dan was United Way drive chairman for the BJ for 8 years (2002-2010).

Dan was a close friend of the late Rod Dingle, also in BJ Circulation. Melissa recalled: “Rod was close with my dad. My mom said they were just talking about Rod. I grew up going to work with my dad sometimes and we would go get breakfast with all those guys. Such wonderful times and being with dad in his element always made me so proud, even as a little kid.”

Former Beacon Journal home writer Mary Beth Nord Breckenridge posted:

 

“Dan and I became friends when we served on the United Way committee together. His enthusiasm was infectious and his leadership skills impressive. He should have been the publisher.”

BJ reporter Betty Lin-Fisher added:

“Wow, I didn’t know Dan had moved to Houston. I agree with Mary Beth. His personality and enthusiasm was infectious.”

Dan was at the BJ from 1979-2011 when left for the PD as state circulation manager (till 2016). Dan left Cleveland for the Houston Chronicle. In 2018, he became a self-employed advisor till 2021.

Dan had to herd more than 700 independent contractors, as the carriers were called back then, at the BJ. Not an easy task. All three of my children had BJ carrier routes in Cuyahoga Falls long before Dan got there. Retired BJ photographer Don Roese was on their route.

When BJ circulation rose slightly to 142,941 in 2001 while PD circulation dropped by 15,290 or 4.2%, Dan, then Circulation Home Delivery Manager, was quoted in a May 7 Crain’s Cleveland Business article as saying:

“We are attempting to leave no stone unturned when it comes to circulation opportunities,” focusing more on single-copy sales and promotions involving special events like high school graduations and sporting events.

A BJ ad quoted Dan as saying:

“Each customer is a part of our family. I want to provide the service they expect.”

Sounds like Dan was channeling and echoing legendary owner John S. Knight’s mantra, huh?

Melissa posted:

“Right now we do not have anything planned for a service in Akron, but I will keep you in the loop as I will plan a Celebration of Life more than likely in the summer. His birthday is in June and I would like to have my mom present.”

If you want to send condolences to the Lias family, the email address is melissalias040@gmail.com .

My thanks to Ken Krause for providing the basic information before I went Googling away. And for Cheryl Scott Sheinen, a frequent tipster, for tipping off Ken who tipped off me and for being the go-between for days between Melissa and me for information. That’s what BJ folks do, help each other help each other and keep track of each other.

BOB GILES TRAVERSES TO LITERARY AWARD

 

Former BJ executive editor Bob Giles, at Ol’ Blue Walls from 1958-1975, received the Traverse City (Michigan) National Writers Series’ Literary Service Award for “When Truth Mattered,” his book on how the BJ handled the 1970 Kent State shootings by the Ohio National Guard that killed 4 and wounded 9 and brought the first of four Pulitzers to the BJ. Owner John S. Knight also got a Pulitzer for his editorial columns.

 

He can use the Traverse City award as an impressive trifecta to the 1971 Pulitzer and the 1978 Scripps-Howard Foundation's Distinguished Journalism Citation for "outstanding public service in the cause of the First Amendment" for columns that advocated more press coverage of courtroom proceedings.

 

After leaving 44 E. Exchange Street Bob was executive editor then editor of the Rochester (New York) Democrat & Chronicle and Times-Union. Later, Bob was editor/publisher of the Detroit News for 11 years. The  News received a 1994 Pulitzer for disclosing a Michigan House Fiscal Agency scandal. After a year with Freedom Forum, Bob became curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard for a decade till his 2011 retirement and permanent move to Traverse City, where he joined the Bob editorial board of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

 

Traverse City is the place to go for tart cherries. It’s the largest producer of that delicacy in America. The Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi  tribes called it Kitchiwikwedongsing (“at the head of the bay,” as in Grand Traverse Bay). European settlers pushed the tribes out, of course. Traverse is on the northwest edge of the lower of two chunks of Michigan land that is separated by Lake Michigan.  

 

Bob’s wife, Nancy Giles, is a psychologist. She would have had a field day at the BJ during my 1969-96 days there.

 

Bob was a 1955 DePauw University graduate who got his master’s in 1956 from Columbia University.