Ewell Balltrip, a civic leader who published daily papers in challenging circumstances the heart of Appalachia, passes

Ewell Balltrip

Ewell Balltrip, who was an outstanding reporter, editor and publisher in his native Harlan, Ky., neighboring Middlesboro, and Dyersburg, Tenn., died yesterday in Lexington of chronic illness. He was 68.

Balltrip was "an effective and persistent community journalist, often under difficult circumstances," says the plaque prepared for his induction into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame at the University of Kentucky on March 25. "He was known for covering the coal industry and the War on Poverty, earning the confidence of especially sensitive local audiences."

Balltrip was publisher of the Harlan Daily Enterprise, the Middlesboro Daily News and the State Gazette in Dyersburg, all under ownership of the New York Times Co. After the company sold the Dyersburg paper in 1995, he returned to his native state to be executive director of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission for Gov. Paul Patton. In 2004 he founded the National Institute for Hometown Security in Somerset. He ran it until shortly before he died.

During both of his public-service careers, Balltrip was a leader in many local, state and regional nonprofits in Appalachian Kentucky. For example, he was a founding board member and officer of Forward in the Fifth, an education support and promotion group in the Fifth Congressional District.

The funeral will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Southern Oaks Funeral Home in Somerset, with visitation from 1 to 5; the obituary, with memorial-gift options, is here.