More remembrances of Ray Shaw

Two more editors of American City Business Journals papers have sent in their thoughts about Ray Shaw, the company’s chairman who died Sunday from complications related to a bee sting.

Cindy Barth, the editor of the Orlando Business Journal:

“When I first joined ACBJ as an intern, I had little knowledge about the company or Ray Shaw at that time. I remember clearly to this day one of my journalism professors telling me what an opportunity I had to work for a newspaper that was affiliated with Ray Shaw, because of his reputation from his days at Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

“In my 17 years with ACBJ now, Ray always encourage excellence in everything we did. He was a no-nonsense man who didn’t hesitate to say what was on his mind, but he also took great pleasure in the accomplishments of his editors and staff throughout the ACBJ family. On a personal basis, I am thankful every day that I listened to my professor and made the decision to join the ACBJ family. Ray always treated us like family, making sure that we were well taken care of and provided with a great place to work and grow.”

Mike Hendricks, editor of the Albany Business Review in New York:

“You might want to include noting that he came from a family of journalists. Gaylord Shaw was a well known AP byline for decades in Washington and in the 1960s and ’70s, his other brother, Robert, worked for the AP in Albany.

“In 2000 I walked away from 28 years of seniority at the AP just before the dot.com bubble burst and when it did and we were all wondering what was going to happen. I remember sitting at a dinner of ACBJ editors listening to Ray Shaw talk about the importance of keeping our corporate culture alive. He was an amazing man.”

Mark Kass, editor of the Milwaukee Business Journal:

“Ray Shaw’s commitment to high quality journalism has been vitally important to the continued growth and success of the business journals. He stressed breaking news and high-quality journalism, something all of our papers are known for.

“On a personal level, the thing I will always remember about Ray is that every time I talked to him, I learned something. He was a man of few words, but those words always had meaning and direction. When he stood up to speak at an editors’ meeting, you knew he was speaking from experience and trying to guide you in the right direction. He will be greatly missed by all of us.”