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Ed Finkelstein – 2012

Ed Finkelstein was recruited by Maury Ruben, the founder of the Labor Tribune, in the early 1970s to become the paper’s second publisher, a position he held for several decades.

Finkelstein, a public relations practitioner, was the founder of Union Communications, one of the first labor-focused public relations firms in America. Later, as UNICOM. that firm served educational institutions and specialized in issue-oriented campaigns. Through his early PR work, he helped give a voice to organized labor by telling its story to the public and its own members. As an aggressive newspaper publisher, Finkelstein oversaw the coverage of major union issues as well as investigative pieces that scooped St. Louis’ major media outlets.

John McGuire – 2012

John McGuire was a long-time feature writer at the Post-Dispatch who was beloved by many. It was written in 2009, shortly after John died in his sleep at the age of 71, that the Post’s editorial board established the Harry Caray Rule in determining when to write an obituary editorial: “The subject must have been at least as well-known in St. Louis as the late Cardinals’ and Cubs’ broadcaster. Well, John knew Harry Caray, interviewed him and bent elbows with him many times. He also knew the bartender who poured Harry Caray’s drinks at Busch’s Grove and the guy who parked his car. He wrote about them, too.” The truth is, for 38 years at the Post-Dispatch, John McGuire simply had a knack for getting people from all walks of life to open up to him. Not only was he a good story-listener, but he was a great storyteller, whose words sparkled and danced on the page as he told with care the stories of other people’s lives.

J.G. Taylor Spink – 2012

John George Taylor Spink was an intriguing fellow who quit school in the tenth grade and took his first job at the Post-Dispatch, but several months later took an apprenticeship with his father at the St. Louis Sporting News.

He developed an excellent reputation as a reporter, editor and manager, and, upon his father’s death in 1914, he took over the paper and ran it until he died in 1962.

Under his leadership, The Sporting News became “The Bible of Baseball,” and he is credited for helping elevate the game. TSN also expanded to include other sports, particularly boxing and football. He also found time to author books about sports.

After Spink died, the Baseball Writers’ Association inaugurated the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in his honor for meritorious service in baseball print coverage.

Robert Cohn – 2012

During the course of his 35-year tenure, Robert A. Cohn built the St. Louis Jewish Light into one of the top Jewish papers in the country. He covered the local Jewish scene extremely well, but he also paid attention to international affairs for his St. Louis readers. He interviewed and wrote about the leading Jewish figures of our time – people like Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Ariel Sharon and Abba Eban.

Cohn was present at the White House when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin signed their historic peace treaty in March 1979.

He served a total of seven years as President of the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis, and was the Founding President of the International Jewish Media Association, comprised of Jewish journalists and media entities around the world, which was founded in Jerusalem in 1987.

Chic Young – 2010

Murat Bernard “Chic” Young graduated from McKinley High School after serving on the yearbook staff for four years, but he had to go to New York to find his fame. After working as a $22 per week bullpen artist, he ended up at King Features, where Young eventually created the Blondie cartoon strip on September 8, 1930, which is now syndicated in 55 countries. Although he once referred to Blondie as “just a comic strip,” Young’s creation had an effect on society, with a radio show and movie later based on the strip. The strip even contributed to culinary history with the creation of the Dagwood sandwich

Nathan Young, Jr. – 2006

Nathan Young’s enduring media legacy was the founding of the St. Louis American in 1928. As a practicing attorney, and later a judge, Young spent much of his time researching facts. When not in court, he would delve into court records, newspaper files and history books, talking with anyone he could meet about their memories of life in early St. Louis. He turned his findings into books, poetry and music. Mr. Young wrote for the St. Louis American for more than 40 years. The often violent racial unrest that afflicted many Northern cities in the 1920s and 1930s made newspapers like his St. Louis American, published by and for the black community, a necessary part of people’s lives.