'Richmond Times-Dispatch' Editor to Retire

By: E&P Staff William H. Millsaps Jr. announced Tuesday that he will retire as executive editor of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch on July 1.

"This is a really good newspaper that is getting better," Millsaps said in a statement. "It has been an honor to serve as executive editor for the past 11 1/2 years, and it has been a privilege to work for leaders such as Stewart [Bryan], Tom [Silvestri] and Alf Goodykoontz. I've had a good run, but after 42 years in newspapering, 39 of them at the Times-Dispatch, I want to try something different."

With the search for a new executive editor under way, Stewart Bryan, chairman and CEO of Media General Inc., which publishes 25 dailies including the Times-Dispatch, said Millsaps will be missed.

"Bill Millsaps has devoted literally his entire working career to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as reporter, columnist, editor, and leader of the newsroom. The paper has benefited greatly from his each and every assignment, and the shoes he leaves to be filled are large indeed," Bryan said in a statement.

Millsaps joined the Times-Dispatch as a sports reporter in 1966. Before becoming executive editor in 1994, he served as associate and executive sports editor and managing editor.

"Bill Millsaps has been the heart and soul of this newspaper through many of its major changes and improvements in the last dozen years," publisher Thomas Silvestri said in a statement. "His passion for writing, journalism and the Times-Dispatch -- particularly its people -- is his legacy."