Hooker, former editor of New England Business Magazine, dies at 79

Kenneth Hooker Jr.

Kenneth Hooker Jr., longtime editor of New England Business Magazine, died June 20 at the age of 79.

He was also a business editor at The Hartford Courant.

A Courant story states, “Hooker’s ex-wife, Elaine Jackson, said Wednesday that she recalled both were hired at The Courant in September 1969.

“‘He got obits and was envious that I got a beat, covering Wethersfield. He went on to general assignment and courts, then was business editor for several years before leaving to become editor of New England Business magazine, I believe in 1981,’ she said. ‘I joined the AP in Hartford in 1974 and then worked at the AP in Boston when we moved.’

“Jackson said Hooker ‘was a tireless and well respected court reporter and business editor. One person he mentored, David Wessel, went on to have an illustrious career at The Wall Street Journal.'”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.