Current:Home > InvestLongtime AP journalist, newspaper publisher John Brewer dies at age 76-InfoLens
Longtime AP journalist, newspaper publisher John Brewer dies at age 76
View Date:2024-12-23 16:53:18
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — John Brewer, whose coast-to-coast journalism career spanned 50 years, including nearly two decades at The Associated Press, has died. He was 76.
Brewer and his longtime friend Randy Johnson were on their annual fly fishing trip in Montana on Friday when the boat Brewer was in hit a submerged log and flipped over, Johnson said. Two others were rescued, but Brewer drowned, he said.
“I’m still having trouble digesting it,” he said Saturday.
Brewer retired in 2015 after nearly 18 years as editor and publisher of the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles. Current publisher Eran Kennedy remembered him Saturday as “a true journalist and editor at heart” and “a person of unwavering integrity, driven by a passion for community and local journalism.”
“We are profoundly saddened by the unexpected loss of John Brewer. On behalf of the Peninsula Daily News family, I extend our heartfelt condolences to John’s loved ones,” Kennedy said in an email. “We will carry forward his torch, ensuring that his memory lives on.”
Born on Oct. 24, 1947, Brewer got his start in journalism at the Upland News, a weekly paper in his hometown of Upland, California. From 1969-1988, he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive for The Associated Press in Seattle, Los Angeles and New York.
As Seattle bureau chief, he oversaw coverage of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which killed 57 people, blasted more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) off the top of the volcano and rained ash for miles around. In Los Angeles, he oversaw coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics, and before that, had a pivotal interaction with a future star. Actor Mark Hamill, of “Star Wars” fame, worked for Brewer as a copy boy in the 1970s before informing him he was leaving because he had been cast in an episode of “The Partridge Family.”
“And so ended my AP career,” Hamill wrote on the social platform X, in 2022.
Brewer also spent 10 years as president, chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp. In addition to handling trademark and merchandise licensing for the newspaper, he also enlisted high-profile columnists, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Martha Stewart and Jimmy Carter, for the Times’ syndicate, according to an autobiographical blog post he published in 2016.
In Port Angeles, Brewer was deeply involved in his community, holding positions with multiple civic organizations. Johnson, who remembered him pounding nails to help construct a new playground, said his friend was guided by the notion, “How can I do something to help this community?”
“He was just a really great person. Even when he retired, he didn’t miss a beat, because he cared,” he said. “He knew he could make a difference.”
Brewer is survived by Barbara Wise and two sons. Funeral arrangements have not been set.
veryGood! (36154)
Related
- Roster limits in college small sports put athletes on chopping block while coaches look for answers
- Ferrari has plans to sell an electric vehicle. The cost? More than $500,000.
- Average long-term US mortgage rate falls again, easing to lowest level since early April
- Europe’s New ESG Rules Spark Questions About What Sustainable Investing Looks Like
- Here's Your First Look at The White Lotus Season 3 With Blackpink’s Lisa and More Stars
- North Carolina legislature likely heading home soon for a ‘little cooling off’ over budget
- Hall of Famer Michael Irvin says wife Sandy suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s
- After D.C. man arrested in woman's cold case murder, victim's daughter reveals suspect is her ex-boyfriend: Unreal
- The Stanley x LoveShackFancy Collaboration That Sold Out in Minutes Is Back for Part 2—Don’t Miss Out!
- California firefighters gain on blazes but brace for troublesome hot weather
Ranking
- NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
- Mass shooting in Philadelphia injures 7, including 1 critical; suspects sought
- Oilers' Stanley Cup Final turnaround vs. Panthers goes beyond Connor McDavid
- Texas electricity demand could nearly double in six years, grid operator predicts
- California voters reject measure that would have banned forced prison labor
- Putin-Kim Jong Un summit sees North Korean and Russian leaders cement ties in an anti-U.S. show of solidarity
- Aaron Judge returns to Yankees’ lineup against Orioles, two days after getting hit on hand by pitch
- Ben Affleck Recounts F--king Bananas Fan Encounter With Wife Jennifer Lopez and Their Kids
Recommendation
-
Pitchfork Music Festival to find new home after ending 19-year run in Chicago
-
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announces he 'beat' cancer
-
Freed Israeli hostage recounts ordeal in Gaza, where she says she was held in a hospital and civilian homes
-
This 'Bridgerton' season, Penelope and Colin are missing something
-
Florida man’s US charges upgraded to killing his estranged wife in Spain
-
A DA kept Black women off a jury. California’s Supreme Court says that wasn’t racial bias
-
After woman calls 911 to say she's sorry, police respond and find 2 bodies
-
Europe’s New ESG Rules Spark Questions About What Sustainable Investing Looks Like