Former Tallahassee Democrat publisher Gus Harwell dies at 85

Former Tallahassee Democrat publisher Gus Harwell, a warm-hearted newsman and mentor, died Friday in Port Orange.

Harwell, 85, was publisher from 1973 to 1981 — becoming the first person to hold the title of publisher in the corporate era. He came to the Democrat as general manager; in 1978 the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain reverted to the traditional terminology of publisher for the executive who oversees all company operations.

Harwell left the Democrat in July 1981 to move to Miami as Knight-Ridder's vice president of operations for small and mid-sized newspapers. He retired in 1995 and moved to Port Orange in northeast Florida.

Harwell oversaw the Democrat's 1978 transition from an afternoon newspaper to a morning newspaper, as well as an expansion of the printing plant, which allowed it to become a commercial printer. He oversaw a period of growth in employees and circulation. He also promoted the late Vernelle Tucker to assistant general manager/business manager in 1974, making her the first woman executive in the Knight-Ridder chain.

Knight-Ridder owned the Democrat from 1965 to 2005, when it was purchased by its current owner, Gannett Co. Inc.

"Gus was a terrific newspaper guy. He knew his business, knew his community and knew what he wanted to accomplish," said Mike Pate, a former Democrat publisher (1997-2005). "He came across as hard-nosed and crusty. But he had a heart as big as all outdoors."

Harwell mentored two future Democrat publishers: Pate, who rose from ad salesman to retail manager under Harwell, then spent 18 years as publisher of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, before returning to Tallahassee. Harwell also mentored Carrol Dadisman, hiring him as the Democrat's general manager in 1980, before Dadisman succeeded him in 1981.

"All of us who worked for Gus remember him as demanding but fair, a genuinely good person and a great teacher," said Dadisman, who retired as Democrat publisher in 1997. "I came to Tallahassee from an earlier career as an editor and writer, and he put me through an intensive 18-month short course in advertising, production, circulation and finance. I will be forever in his debt."

Harwell also was responsible for hiring former Democrat editor Walker Lundy as managing editor in 1977, then elevating him to executive editor in 1978, succeeding Rich Oppel who left to be executive editor of the Charlotte Observer.

Lundy led the Democrat newsroom until 1984, moving on to be executive editor of newspapers in Arkansas, St. Paul and Philadelphia.

"He was a great publisher to work for as an editor. He always stood with you, there was never any doubt about that," said Lundy, now retired in North Carolina. "He was a friend to journalists on the paper and to the readers. He was also (my) friend."

Harwell's kindnesses extended to the student newspapers at Florida State University and Florida A&M University. In 1973, he lowered the price the Democrat charged to publish the Florida Flambeau, which was struggling financially after severing its ties with the FSU administration. He also agreed to print the FAMUAN, which had been forced to use a Jacksonville publisher, which required the paper to be printed two weeks in advance.

Harwell was a native of Tupelo, Mississippi, and began his journalism career as business manager and reporter for his high school newspaper. He graduated from the University of Missouri's top-ranked school of journalism and spent seven years working for newspapers in his native Mississippi before Knight-Ridder hired him in 1962. He spent several years as publisher of Knight-Ridder's Boca Raton News before coming to Tallahassee.

Dadisman said one of his favorite Harwell comments came shortly after the Democrat's switch from afternoon to morning publication in January 1978. A reader called to complain that she wanted to read her newspaper in the afternoon.

"Well, you can keep reading it in the afternoon," Harwell told her. "But we're going to deliver it in the morning."

Harwell and his wife, Mary Ann, were married 62 years before her death in February 2014. They had a son, who died during the 1970s, and one daughter, Suzanne.

A memorial service will be held March 21 in Port Orange.