Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. Publisher Retiring

Josiah P. Rowe III, publisher of The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. in Fredericksburg, Va., is retiring after more than 60 years in Virginia newspapers and broadcasting.

Rowe will retire at year’s end, and become publisher emeritus. Succeeding him will be Nicholas J. Cadwallender, who has been serving as associate publisher.

Among his many accomplishments at the helm, Rowe most recently oversaw the establishment of Print Innovators, a state-of-the-art commercial printing facility that was put into operation in September. The much-delayed new printing operation features the first Goss FPS press installed in North America -- a four-tower triplewide machine equipped with a dryer for heatset and coldset products.The facility offers newspaper and commercial printing services for clients within a 600-mile radius.

"I've overseen the installation of three new presses in my career," Rowe told the Free Lance-Star. "Now that Print Innovators is up and running, it's the right time to turn the operations over to the next generation."

Rowe's career that began in 1936 as a delivery boy with his brother, Charles. Following the death of their father in 1949, the Rowe brothers became the Free Lance-Star’s co-publishers. Josiah Rowe has served as the sole publisher and president since 1998, according to the paper.

In the past six decades, the newspaper's circulation has grown from 6,437 to more than 50,000. Rowe saw the company's radio holdings grow after the 1960 founding of 93.3 WFLS, a longtime ratings leader. The Virginia Communications Hall of Fame inducted him in 1993, and this year he was named to the AP Broadcasters' Hall of Fame.

Additionally, Rowe served as mayor of Fredericksburg between 1964 and 1972, and was a deacon of The Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg.  
 
The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. includes The Free Lance-Star newspaper; the Star Radio Group (which includes WFLS, WWUZ 96.9, WWVB 99.3 and WYSK.com); fredericksburg.com; and the Star Directory phone book.