By: Jim Day, Associated Press Writer (AP) Ariel Melchior Sr., a lifelong newsman who saw the newspaper he founded during the Depression win a Pulitzer Prize in 1995, has died. He was 93.
Melchior, a co-founder and publisher of
The Virgin Islands Daily News, died Tuesday of natural causes at a St. Thomas hospital.
As publisher of the newspaper, his opinions on public policy in this U.S. Caribbean territory carried political weight, even with those who did not agree with him, said former Lt. Gov. Henry Millin, a close friend.
"He was respected even by people who didn't like him," Millin said Monday. "He always wrote what he felt, provided it was true ... The
Daily News was the bravest publication I've ever known."
Melchior and his colleague J. Antonio Jarvis founded the
Daily News in 1930 with $1,000 borrowed from family and friends. Melchior bought out Jarvis' share in 1940 and served as publisher until 1978, when he sold the newspaper to Gannett Co. Inc.
Even in retirement, Melchior stayed active in the paper's operations. A photo taken in 1995 shows him raising a glass of champagne with the newspaper's staff after they learned they had won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for a series exposing police corruption and other causes of high crime in the islands.
"He is to be praised for guiding
The Virgin Islands Daily News from its inception to the unique position it holds today as a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper," Gov. Charles Turnbull said.
Melchior was born Feb. 22, 1909, on St. Thomas, and began his career as a printer for the St. Thomas Mail Notes.
At 21, he co-founded the
Daily News with the motto of "More and Better Business for St. Thomas," said local historian Ruth Moolenaar.
Under Melchior, the newspaper covered events ranging from the modern government's formation under the Revised Organic Act of 1954, the growth of the tourism industry and waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s.
"He was the type of crusading journalist that people like myself hold up as a role model," said Penny Feuerzeig, who worked as executive editor of the
Daily News under Melchior. "He was a very imposing figure, kind of gruff and intimidating. But then you found he was a real pleasure to work with," she said.
Survivors include eight children, two stepchildren, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here