Nina Goolsby, longtime Oxford Eagle editor, dies

Nina Bunch Goolsby, co-owner of The Oxford Eagle and editor of the 5,000-circulation Mississippi daily from 1961 to 2006, "died Tuesday night on her 88th birthday," reports Senior Staff Writer Lucy Schultze. Goolsby's "folksy writings and persuasive sales approach defined Oxford’s community newspaper for half a century."

Goolsby started at the paper in 1942 as a bookkeeper. "She soon became the society editor and later moved into advertising," Schultze writes. "She purchased The Eagle in 1961 along with partners Jesse Phillips and W.S. Featherston. She continued to write her popular “Nina’s Notebook” column through the mid-1990s. With its blend of current events, folksy reminiscences and local color, it’s this daily column for which she’s best remembered across the Oxford community."

Nina Goolsby was what the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues likes to call an engaged journalist. "Far from the idea of journalist as dispassionate observer, 'Miss Nina' did more than just chronicle daily life in her community — she worked to shape, guide and promote it. She was involved in well over a dozen local clubs and organizations," and many civic causes, Schultze writes. “She was a force for what was progressive and good in the city,” former mayor John Leslie said. (Read more)