Obituary: James E. Alexander / Held several key editor posts at Post-Gazette
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James Alexander
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James E. Alexander, who arrived at the Post-Gazette as assistant Sunday editor in 1949 and retired as managing editor three decades later, died Jan. 13 of a heart attack.
He was 98 and lived in Ligonier.
Known as "Silky" in the newspaper office -- possibly for his dapper appearance and silk shirts, although no one remembers for sure -- Mr. Alexander came to the Post-Gazette from Akron and worked in many roles, including book reviewer, editor of the women's pages and city editor.
He became managing editor in 1974 and retired in 1979.
"He was an established figure around the newsroom" said Gerard Patterson, former city editor. "He was a very good pencil editor. He was good at improving copy, that was one of his strengths. He was very meticulous."
The son of a newspaper editor, Mr. Alexander grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, and founded his own newspaper there, the Zanesville News, as a young man. In later years he worked at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Akron Beacon Journal before arriving in Pittsburgh.
"He had newspapers in his blood," said his son, James Alexander, 69, of Virginia.
The Post-Gazette hired him to help with the Sunday edition. He later served as the travel editor and book editor, and for a time offered book commentary on an early-morning KDKA-TV program. His son said he read so many books during his career that he quit reading after retirement, saying he was saturated.
Mr. Alexander became city editor in 1965 and then assistant managing editor in 1973.
"He was a distinguished-looking gentleman with gray hair who could easily have been mistaken for a senator," said Reg Henry, columnist and deputy editorial page editor. "He certainly stood out in the rumpled confines of an old-fashioned newsroom where patrician figures were in short supply."
John Robinson Block, Post-Gazette publisher, said he remembered Mr. Alexander as a cerebral sort who "carried an air of authority and elegance. He was steeped in the newspaper business and had a good eye for good writing and good reporting."
Outside of the office he loved golf and enjoyed good health. He remained vigorous, playing golf well into his 90s at Rolling Rock Club and driving his convertible -- he called it his "chick magnet" -- until he was 97.
Born in 1913, Mr. Alexander graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1935 with degrees in philosophy and math. But he had wanderlust, so he borrowed $200 from his uncle and traveled to Europe, hitchhiking for four months.
When he came home, he joined the staff of the Akron Beacon Journal as a police reporter. He also worked briefly on the staff of the Pittsburgh Press, his family said, before setting off on another adventure. This time he bummed around New Zealand, spending six months there as a sheep herder and occasionally writing for the Evening Post in Wellington.
In 1939, he signed on as a crew member on a 70-foot ketch, the Vanora, heading from New Zealand to Chile. Mr. Alexander wrote a book about the 6,000-mile voyage, but it was never published.
Back home in Ohio, he married Jean Crew Alexander in 1940. On Dec. 7, 1941, he heard a radio report about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and put out an extra edition of his newspaper that was among the first to announce the news.
He was called up for war service three times, his son said, but didn't serve. The family story is that the government considered newspaper editors useful for propaganda purposes, so he was exempt.
He and Jean moved to Minneapolis and Akron before Mr. Alexander embarked on his Post-Gazette career. They settled in Mt. Lebanon, raising three children there.
After Jean died in the early 1990s, Mr. Alexander married Blanche Galey Fishback in 1995 and moved to her farm in Somerset. She died in 2007.
Besides his son, Mr. Alexander is survived by his daughter, Jean K. Small of Kentucky.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Feb. 4 at St. Michael's of the Valley Church in Ligonier.
First Published January 17, 2012 12:00 am
