Thank you, Mr. Scudder
Richard B. Scudder, co-founder of MediaNews Group Inc., parent of the York Daily Record/Sunday News, died this morning at the age of 99. He was known as Mr. Scudder by YDR staff members, who got to know him in his frequent visits.
Journalism has lost a good friend in Richard Scudder.
That’s Mr. Scudder, as we all called him at the York Daily Record/Sunday News. He was retired chairman of the MediaNews Group board.
Mr. Scudder, it was.
Somehow nothing else worked. “Mr. Scudder,” was a sign of respect, which he had in great abundance in our newsroom.
He was here in York often over the years. York was close to his New Jersey home, and we looked forward to his visits. He got to know many of our journalists.
And we benefited immensely from those visits.
Mr. Scudder was a champion of journalism and journalists and newsrooms and news gathering. He was particularly curious about our Big “J” journalism, meaning our investigative and enterprise work. But he was attentive and asked learned questions about our journalism across the spectrum.
Pulling together these scattered thoughts: Mr. Scudder stiffened our collective spins, inspiring us to reach higher, stretch wider and dig deeper in our journalism.
Thank you, Mr. Scudder.
Also:
Scott Fisher, our opinion page editor, provided his memories: “I always enjoyed discussions and dinners with Mr. Scudder. He had such great, colorful stories about when journalism was a more wild and wooly endeavor. I always felt a pang of envy for his adventures. He was also never shy about expressing an opinion and fiercely defending it. As an opinion page editor, I sure respect that.”
Also of interest:
Read the Denver Post’s obituary story.
Statesman Nathaniel Scudder, after serving in Continental Congress in York, lost his life in battle