Longtime Wyoming Publisher Dies at 74

By: E&P Staff Charles Richardson, longtime publisher of the Daily Rocket-Miner, of Rock Springs, Wyo., died July 20 in a Cheyenne hospice at age 74. The cause of death was not released.

Richardson had served variously as publisher and corporate president of the Rocket-Miner since 1974. He stepped down as publisher of the paper in 2000, but continued to serve as president until his death.

Richardson was born in 1934 in Newcastle, Wyo., in the eastern part of the state. In 1937, Richard's father, David Richardson, purchased the Rock Springs Rocket and moved his family to Rock Springs, in southwestern Wyoming. As a youth, Richardson worked various jobs at the paper.

Richardson studied accounting at the University of Wyoming, graduating in 1956. After graduation, he spent four years in the U.S. Army, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, before returning to Rock Springs in 1960.

Richardson spent 14 years as general manager of the paper, during which time the paper changed its name, adopting the name Daily Rocket-Miner in 1965. He also served as president of the Wyoming Press Association in 1969. Richardson became publisher in 1974, after the death of his father, David.

Richardson was made a lifetime member of the Wyoming Press Association in 1974.