By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 17, 2022 | A giant of modern Georgia journalism has died. Millard Berry Grimes Jr. died May 3, 2022, at the age of 92, at his home in Athens of natural causes. He at one time published, owned or partly owned more than 40 newspapers, many small weeklies, in Georgia and Alabama.
In 1985, he was chief writer and author of The Last Linotype: the Story of Georgia and its Newspapers Since World War II. He also served as the president of the Georgia Press Association in 1986 and president of the Alabama Press Association in the early 1970s.
His long career in the newspaper world began in Columbus as a copy boy. Grimes headed to the University of Georgia for college, and put in countless hours on the student newspaper, The Red and Black. He was its editor during his senior year of college.
Years later, he was a member of the board of directors of The Red and Black Publishing Company, Inc., which operates the student daily. He was also a member of the Gridiron Secret Society.
Grimes
Returning to Columbus after graduation, he worked on the Ledger as a copy editor. While on that staff, the newspaper won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the clean-up of corruption in Phenix City, the then-notorious Alabama town that was just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus. He later founded The Phenix (Ala.) Citizen, which he operated before eventually returning to the Columbus newspaper to write editorials and an editorial column before being named editor of the morning paper, the Enquirer. There he was an opinion columnist.
Grimes put together a group that purchased the Opelika Daily News, and years later sold it to the Thompson Group. Then began years of buying small newspapers, mostly in northern to central Georgia. He also bought, operated and sold two statewide magazines, the Georgia Journal and Georgia Trend. He sold his last newspaper in 2011, but came back to start the Buford Weekly Illustrated, which later folded.
We have comments about Millard from five Georgia Press past presidents.
Dink NeSmith, former chairman of Community Newspapers Inc., says: “Millard’s mind never took a rest. We were next-door neighbors 15 years in Athens. He’d walk over and say, ‘I’ve been thinking about something.’ And when he’d leave, I’d mutter, ‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’ Smart and kind to the core. That was Millard.”
Robert Williams of Blackshear writes: “Millard was as dedicated to quality newspapering as anyone I’ve ever known. He was always unselfish in his service to the industry in terms of time, money and talent. He was a giving individual his long life. We’re all in his debt.”
Mark Smith of Eatonton, adds: “Millard was a kind, thoughtful person who believed in the value of newspapers to a community and protecting and affording free to all. He was a mentor to many and a true friend and a special person.”
Neely Young, editor of Georgia Trend, feels that “Millard was my best friend, and one who shaped journalism in Georgia in the 20th century. He stayed involved in journalism circles and was an inspiration for people both young and old.”
Walter Geiger of Barnesville says: “I sat in on several newspaper sales transactions in which Millard was involved. He feigned distraction but was actually intensely focused on the details. He told me the linotype guys were, to a man, alcoholics and constantly irritated by something. ‘I don’t know why we would expect more from them. They have been breathing lead fumes all their adult lives.’”
Millard B. Grimes Jr.: 1930-2022: May you rest in peace.
- To read his entire obituary, click here.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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