Editor at One of Merrill's Papers: 'Hopes Are Fading Pretty Fast'

By: Sarah Weber A grim reality is beginning to settle upon the friends and relatives of missing publisher Philip Merrill as the hours pass and rescue operations continue without success. Merrill, an experienced sailor, disappeared from his boat in the Chesapeake Bay on Saturday. ?We have been told that the allotted time in which a person can survive the water has passed,? Tom Marquardt, executive editor of The Capital in Annapolis, Md., told E&P early this afternoon. ?Hopes are fading pretty fast.?

He said a 2:30 p.m. press conference has been set by the State Department of Natural Resources. The Washington Post this afternoon said Merrill was "presumed dead" and said the rescue mission was changing to a recovery operation.

The Capital is one of several newspapers under the umbrella of Merrill?s publishing company the Capital-Gazette Communications Incorporated. Merrill?s prominence in the worlds of journalism and diplomacy led to many friends, and they who are now left to begin the process of dealing with the increasing possibility of Merrill?s passing.

?His personal community is quite large,? Marquardt said. ?He split his time between Washington and Annapolis. I went to his last party in Washington, D.C., and among those in attendance were Vice President Dick Cheney, Jack Kemp, and Colin Powell. They didn?t come because of some feeling of obligation; they were all his friends.?

Right now, the staffs at Merrill?s papers, including The Capital, are left with the grief and longing that accompanies the loss of a loved one. Many feel like a ?father? may have died, Marquardt said solemnly: ?He guided us, encouraged us, and gave us confidence. At Monday?s staff meeting, his absence was noted.?

Though it is too soon to speculate as to who would fulfill Merrill?s duties as chairman of Capital-Gazette Communications Inc., Marquardt did point out that his wife, Eleanor Merrill, served as temporary publisher when Philip left to become president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in 2002. ?I believe Eleanor is in a position to assume the role of publisher,? Marquardt stated.

Though Philip Merrill?s list of personal and professional accomplishments is long, it is his personal attitude that is most striking, Marquardt said. When asked about Merrill?s views about the newspaper industry and its concern about survival in a digital age, Marquardt was emphatic about his publisher?s unwavering optimism.

?I had many conversations with Phil [about this], and he had an uncanny ability to project into the future with tremendous accuracy. He would say to me, ?Listen, I just don?t see a time in our life when newspapers are not going to be around.??