Pulitzer Prize-winning Anchorage Daily News editor and journalism educator Stan Abbott died July 27 after a long illness following a series of strokes in a hospice near Detroit. He was 73.
Abbott was a soft-spoken but intensely inquisitive journalist who influenced scores of reporters during his time at newspapers from Anchorage to Taipei. He was a leader in Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) a grassroots organization formed out of the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War and the murder of a reporter in Arizona to help reporters share story ideas, newsgathering techniques and sources.
With Abbott at the helm as its executive editor, the Anchorage Daily News won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 in the Public Service category for its series on the influence of the Teamsters Union on the state's economy and politics. The Daily News was at that time the smallest daily newspaper ever to win the Public Service Pulitzer. Each year, only one newspaper in America receives this honor.
Abbott served as president of the Alaska Press Association and was a correspondent for Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. After nearly 20 years at the Daily News, Abbott became an assistant professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Between 1983 and 1989, he worked for the school's Columbia Missourian newspaper, where he mentored hundreds of young journalists, teaching them to dig deeper for information and present it in clear, concise language.
After he left the Missourian, Abbott served as head of the McClatchy News Service in Sacramento, California. Later, he worked for an English-language newspaper in Taipei, Taiwan, which followed the Missouri model with student reporters.
Abbott was a 1965 graduate of California State University, Los Angeles. In 1999, he received one of the university's Distinguished Alumni Awards for his service as a newspaper editor and journalism educator. He earned a master's degree from the MU School of Journalism in 1987.
Survivors include a daughter, Ambre Abbott Ellenson, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; a son, Robson Abbott and wife Jesse, of Anchorage; two grandsons, Oliver and Isaac Ellenson; brother Steve Abbott and wife, Linda; sister Cheryl Caldwell and husband, Jim.
No services are planned. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Investigative Reporters & Editors, Attn: Heather Feldmann Henry, 141 Neff Annex, UMC Columbia, MO 65211