Obituaries

Frank Daniels Jr., the blunt, coarse and candidly liberal publisher of The News & Observer, who led his grandfather’s newspaper to a modern age and progressive voice, then stood as the last of his Raleigh family to hold its reins, died June

30. He was 90. Daniels served as president and publisher from 1971 to 1996, shortly after his family sold the paper to Mcclatchy and ended more than a century of local ownership. But newspaper life consumed him from age 15, when he worked as an N&O office boy and developed what his longtime wife, Julia, described as “ink in his veins.”

Jim Carrington, the longtime sports editor of the Pioneer (Bemidji, Minnesota), died July 2 at the age of 93. “Jim was the most dedicated journalist I’ve ever worked with,” said Dennis Doeden, former publisher at the Pioneer who worked with Carrington for 10 years.

Danny A. Martin,a tough, kind-hearted newspaperman and former publisher of The News-press died June 26 in Fort Myers, Florida. He was 80. Martin worked most of his professional career for Gannett, the parent company of The News-press and USA TODAY, where he was a founding staffer and columnist in the early 1980s.

Steve Gonzales, a devoted family man and veteran Houston Chronicle photojournalist beloved for his unwavering kindness, faith and optimism, died

June 25 after a long, valiant battle with cancer. He was 60.

Mark Shields,a piercing analyst of America’s political virtues and failings, first as a Democratic campaign strategist and then as a television commentator who both delighted and rankled audiences for four decades with his bluntly liberal views and sharply honed wit, died June 18 at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was 85.

Chuck Bohnet,a longtime senior executive and board member of Forum Communications, died June 9. He was 86. Bohnet joined the advertising staff of The Forum in 1959. It was the beginning of a career and association with Forum Communications that would continue for more than six decades.