Categories: OLD Media Moves

Heaster, former KC Star biz editor, dies

Jerry Heaster, a former business editor of the Kansas City Star and former president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, died on Wednesday.

Diane Stafford of the Star writes, “‘We have lost a great journalist and a wonderful friend,’ said Steve Shirk, managing editor of The Star. ‘He loved his dialogue with readers and never let them down. His 5,000 columns are proof of that.’

“A staunch believer in the free market, Heaster won legions of fans, as well as critics, for his conservative columns. Heaster himself disdained the label, saying that was far too simplistic.

“Friends and family knew him as a good-humored, gracious and decent man who bootstrapped himself up from a hardscrabble West Virginia background. The Wall Street Journal was his daily bible, and he carefully clipped and kept a library of articles, including his own work, as reference for his prodigious output.

“Heaster retired from The Star in 2006 when effects related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma made it too difficult to continue working. Eighteen months ago, he also was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.”

Read more here.

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.

Recent Posts

The evolution of the WSJ beyond finance

Rahat Kapur of Campaign looks at the evolution The Wall Street Journal. Kapur writes, "The transformation…

4 hours ago

Silicon Valley Biz Journal seeks a reporter

This position will be Hybrid in the office/market 3 days per week, and those days…

4 hours ago

Economist’s Bennet, WSJ’s Morrow receive awards

The Fund for American Studies presented James Bennet of The Economist with the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award…

11 hours ago

WSJ is testing AI-generated article summaries

The Wall Street Journal is experimenting with AI-generated article summaries that appear at the top…

12 hours ago

Cohen joining Bloomberg Tax

Zach Cohen is joining Bloomberg Tax to cover the fiscal cliff and tax issues on…

13 hours ago

Avila named interim editor for Automotive Dive

Larry Avila has been named interim editor for Automotive Dive, an Industry Dive publication. He…

13 hours ago