Longtime Michigan Newspaper Editor Reed Dies At 83
JACKSON (AP) - Harry Reed, who was an editor at newspapers in Jackson, Pontiac and Grand Rapids, has died. He was 83.
Reed died Friday, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot. He was the paper's editor from 1976-85.
Reed also worked at the Pontiac Daily Press - now The Oakland Press - where he was a reporter, suburban editor, city editor, managing editor and editor, before leaving in 1971. He joined Booth Newspapers that year as an assistant managing editor at The Grand Rapids Press.
He became editor of the Citizen Patriot on his 47th birthday - Aug. 9, 1976.
During the "Blizzard of 1978" that dumped nearly two feet of snow on Jackson, Reed was one of the few newsroom employees who made it to work, cross-country skiing around town with a camera around his neck to capture images of the storm and its aftermath.
"He was very humble and very ethical and an old-style newsman," said Sandy Petykiewicz, a former Citizen Patriot publisher who was hired by Reed in 1983 as the paper's metro editor. "He was very kind and easygoing, but he could be very hard-headed when he was fighting for the editorial side of the newspaper."
He also served as president of the Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association and the University of Michigan Press Club.
Reed later served as an adjunct professor of journalism at Michigan State, Western Michigan and Grand Valley State universities.
A Detroit native, Reed graduated from Grosse Ile High School in 1948 and the University of Michigan in 1952.
He is survived by his wife and sons.
A memorial service is set for June 27 at the Universalist Unitarian Church of East Liberty in Jackson County's Liberty Township.
[See his photo and read his obituary HERE].
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