Dan Phillips, Assistant Publisher at 'Oxford (Miss.) Eagle,' Dies at 47

By: Miki Johnson The Oxford (Miss.) Eagle has lost a beloved member of its -- literal and figurative --publishing family.

Assistant publisher Dan Phillips, 47, died Monday at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital after complications following his Nov. 22 kidney transplant. The kidney came from Phillips' younger brother Tim, who is an assistant publisher at the Eagle, where their father, Jesse, is publisher.

Dan Phillips became an assistant publisher at the Eagle in 1983, and his esteem in both the newsroom and the community was apparent through prayer-list petitions for him and Tim in the months before and after his transplant.

"The heart of The Oxford Eagle is broken along with that of Dan?s family and many friends," Eagle Assistant publisher and co-owner Rita Vasilyev said in a Dec. 13 Eagle article.

President of the National Newspaper Association in 1999?2000, Phillips was the first Mississippian to hold the position in 50 years. After finishing his leadership responsibilities in 2004?2005, then NNA President Mike Buffington asked Phillips to serve in a new one-year, at-large board position.

"He had a lot of hot issues fall on his plate while he was an NNA officer and he dealt with those with a lot of good common sense," said Buffington, editor of The Jackson Herald in Jefferson, Ga., in the Eagle story. "He was a steady hand on the rudder during a time the organization needed such leadership."

Phillips is further remembered as deeply committed to his community, where he helped found the Mississippi Coalition for Freedom of Information, the state chapter of a national organization that supports citizen access to government information.

Active also within the Mississippi Press Association, Phillips served on its board of directors and served as president in 1997-1998 and in several other capacities.

After graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in journalism, Phillips worked for The Natchez (Miss.) Democrat and later newspapers in Alabama. In 1983 he returned to the Eagle, where he had worked during college as a photographer, sports editor, and news reporter. Throughout his career, Phillips had received awards, including ones from The Associated Press and MPA for his writing and photographs.

Phillips is survived by his wife, Susan Schove Phillips; two daughters, Margaret Goodwyn Phillips and Mary August Phillips; parents, Jesse and Jeanette Phillips; and brothers, Tim Phillips and Andy Phillips.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Waller Funeral Home in Oxford, Miss. The funeral will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at the Oxford University United Methodist Church.