Founder of Honolulu biz newspaper dies at 84

George Mason, who helped found the Pacific Business News newspaper in Honolulu back in 1963 and served as its editor for 16 years, died Monday at his home. He was 84.

The weekly newspaper was sold to American City Business Journals in 1984.

A story on the paper’s web site stated, “Playing a hunch that Hawaii’s post-statehood business community was growing big enough to support a weekly newspaper dedicated to commerce, Mason and three investors founded Crossroads Press, the publisher of Pacific Business News. The first issue was published on March 18, 1963, and today PBN is one of the oldest continuously published business weeklies in the United States.

“Mason eventually bought out his partners and by 1967 the newspaper turned its first profit. In December 1984, he sold Crossroads Press to American City Business Journals, which still owns PBN today.

“‘George’s entrepreneurial spirit was unmatched in our community,’ said Larry Fuller, president and publisher of PBN. ‘He started the first independent weekly business newspaper in the country and made it work because of his vision and his dedication.’

“Mason served as president and publisher of PBN until 1992. From 1976 to 1992 he also was editor of PBN.”

Read more here.