Ezell, former Times-Union biz editor, dies at 72

Wayne Ezell

Wayne Ezell, a former business editor at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, died Sunday in a bicycle accident at the age of 72.

Teresa Stepzinski of the Times-Union writes, ”

“Mr. Ezell was a well-respected journalist.

“‘Wayne Ezell was the ultimate journalist. Reporter, editor, publisher, reader advocate and editorial writer, he personified the best in journalism. His passion for the profession never wavered,’ Mike Clark, editorial page editor of the Times-Union, said of his friend and colleague.

“Mr. Ezell became an editorial writer at the Times-Union in September 2011. He previously served as the newspaper’s reader advocate for three years, as well as business editor for three years. Before joining the Times-Union in 2005, he was publisher of the Winter Haven News Chief, a Central Florida daily then owned by Morris Communications, parent company of the Times-Union.

“Earlier in his career, Mr. Ezell was editor of the Boca Raton News, deputy managing editor of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, city editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and capital bureau chief for Gannett’s Florida newspapers in Tallahassee.”

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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.