Publisher John M. McClelland is remembered for devotion to his home state

Publisher John M. McClelland Jr. (Photo, left, in 1975), owner of a small regional newspaper chain, died Oct. 30, at the age of 95. Crosscut.com writer Knute Berger wrote a tribute to the long-time publisher of The Daily News, in Longview, Wash. Berger said of his one-time boss, "John McClelland loved Washington, loved quality and reporting, loved publishing, and he had the cash and other resources to make it happen." He compares his experience working on Washington magazine, which was launched by McClelland about the area of the county that he loved, to the media landscape now: "How many publishers today, who are mostly numbers or sales guys, are passionate about historic preservation?  ... McClelland would always look at some grand dining room and imagine his office there. ...  He had a foot in both the future and the past. He was a man who loved the details of history (he oversaw the publication of an important book on local place names), yet he also drove his Trans Am into the future of the high-tech suburbs. He was a man of dignity and tradition who took big risks. He loved old books and maps, but in his prime, was always ready to try something new."

At one time, McClelland wanted his dailies to compete with the two large Seattle newspapers, The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, but he eventually sold his chain of newspapers, as well as Washington magazine. "We, the staff, felt the loss keenly because we knew no owner would be as passionate about the content as John McClelland," writes Berger. (Read more)