AD / PR HOF

Susan Veidt – 2017

Susan Veidt spent her entire career in public relations in St. Louis, most of it at Fleishman-Hillard. When she retired at the beginning of 2018, she had risen to the position of Regional President, responsible for the operations and growth of the worldwide company’s largest office and world headquarters and three other Midwest branches. She was involved in changing the face of the PR industry from stunts and hype to strategic planning, crisis communications, media relations and community relations. Her teams at FH won over 20 major industry awards for their work, and her strong ties to St. Louis’ cultural institutions resulted in thousands of hours of community service.

Paul Fey – 2017

Paul Fey and Walt Jaschek were two kindred creative spirits who merged their efforts in 1991 to establish their agency, Paul & Walt Worldwide. The duo quickly gained national attention for their funny radio commercials for brands such as CBS-TV, Warner Brothers and many others, and their work has garnered more than 1,000 industry awards. Paul, having originally worked in St. Louis at KMOX-TV, moved to Hollywood, California to oversee production. Walt handled much of the scripting from his home office in St. Louis. The company’s name was later changed to World Wide Wadio and, in addition to its ongoing advertising work, expanded into the production of podcasts.

Walt Jaschek – 2017

Paul Fey and Walt Jaschek were two kindred creative spirits who merged their efforts in 1991 to establish their agency, Paul & Walt Worldwide. The duo quickly gained national attention for their funny radio commercials for brands such as CBS-TV, Warner Brothers and many others, and their work has garnered more than 1,000 industry awards. Paul, having originally worked in St. Louis at KMOX-TV, moved to Hollywood, California to oversee production. Walt handled much of the scripting from his home office in St. Louis. The company’s name was later changed to World Wide Wadio and, in addition to its ongoing advertising work, expanded into the production of podcasts.

Joe Finnigan – 2018

Joe’s work carried him to an executive vice-president’s position at Fleishman-Hillard where he oversaw blue ribbon clients Anheuser-Busch and Ralston Purina, work for which he received Silver Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America. In the book he wrote following his retirement, Finnigan provided explicit details of the early stages of the nation’s beer wars and his part in them. During his 28 years at F-H, Joe also worked with Ameren/UE, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Granite City Steel, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing and the U.S. Space Foundation.

Suzi Mahe – 2018

Suzi Mahe started out professionally as an ad copywriter but an offer from KPLR in 1984 cemented her relationship with the television industry. She spent the rest of her career promoting local stations, rising to the top of her employers’ creative services divisions. After serving KPLR for 24 years she took on the same duties additionally for KTVI after the stations merged their operations in 2008. Her duties also included the local promotion of the Fox Broadcast and CW TV networks and her stations’ four local digital channels. Her team’s work garnered nearly 100 awards in the TV industry.

Dick Vinyard – 2019

Dick Vinyard got his degree in journalism and dedicated his professional life of 50 years to the ad business. After working for three major agencies, he founded Vinyard & Lee & Partners in 1971. His work included the development of advertising for some of the area’s top companies including Wetterau Foods, Anheuser-Busch, Purina Dog Chow, and Ravarino & Freschi pasta. He sold his agency to TBWA and later started an ad consulting firm, which he ran until his retirement in 2012. He also served as chairman of the Missouri Council of the American Association of Advertising Agencies