++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
11 January 2004--PISCATAWAY DAILY NEWS
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Stuart Awbrey, 66, of Piscataway, N.J., formerly of Parsons, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004, in Piscataway, N.J., after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Awbrey was born Oct. 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955 and received a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He received a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960 and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa
He began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of the Parsons Sun. He later attended Columbia University's school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News
He had been involved in the Children's Television Workshop ("Sesame Street" and the "Electric Company") in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, a public relations firm.
Before that he edited the "Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine." He was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration.
He was also special assistant to U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently he was senior public affairs representative of IBM Corp.
He and his wife, Beverly, purchased The Cranford (N.J.) Chronicle in 1978 and he was the editor.
He received over 90 awards in his 11 years at The Chronicle.
He remained active in Union county journalism after selling the Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record, and editor of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
He was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
He was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
Survivors are his wife; two daughters, Kimberley of New Haven, Conn., and Lee of Montpelier, Vt.; two grand-daughters; his mother, Nancy Swenarton of Colorado Springs, Colo.; one brother, John of Colorado Springs; and a sister, Nancy of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Unitarian Church in Summit, N.J.
Memorials may be made to the Greater New Jersey chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood
Stuart Awbrey, 66, Chronicle Editor;
Advocate For Those With Alzheimer’s
Stuart Awbrey
Stuart Awbrey, a former newspaper editor whose award-winning community journalism and shoeleather civic boosterism revitalized The Cranford Chronicle in the 1980s, died on Sunday, January 11, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 66 years old. Mr. Awbrey bought The Cranford Chronicle with his wife, Beverley, in 1978, and refocused the paper’s coverage on local issues, including politics, crime, and the controversial redevelopment of Cranford’s downtown. As a husband-and-wife team, the Awbreys rejuvenated the nearly century-old paper, with Beverley artfully managing the paper’s lifeblood advertising section and Stuart holding down the editorial side. In his first Chronicle editorial, in 1978, Mr. Awbrey wrote that he would make no “instant judgments” on local issues, but gave notice that he would be heard from “gradually…and certainly not precipitously.” His careful reporting and tenacious editorializing – informed by a deeply held commitment to public service – led to more than 90 awards over his 11 years at The Chronicle. Among the paper’s most prestigious awards was the 1980 New Jersey Press Association’s Enterprise Award for a series on a tenure scandal in the Cranford school system, and the superintendent’s use of private investigators to spy on faculty members. The series also brought a financially crippling (and ultimately unsuccessful) lawsuit from the superintendent, but sealed Mr. Awbrey’s reputation as a fair and thoughtful public advocate. In his 1997 memoir, “Chronicles of a Community Journalist,” Mr. Awbrey recalled some of the heat his writing generated, and wrote that although he had been occasionally plagued by doubts, he remained committed to the ideals of public advocacy. “In all my years, I’ve gained much more than I’ve lost by speaking up,” he wrote. “And the town and its newspaper usually gained, too.” Mr. Awbrey carried his zeal for news to areas beyond politics, writing absorbing articles about subjects as diverse as the history of short-line railroads in New Jersey, local crimes and accidents, nudist bicyclists, UFO sightings, high school sports, local military veterans, and tornadoes. His enthusiasm for news was rooted in a passion for Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of constant action. “I always wanted to capture a bank robber,” Mr. Awbrey wrote in his memoir of his love of anticipating the unexpected and the thrill of a sudden scoop.
As a college student, Mr. Awbrey described journalism as “a chance to balance reason and passion, thought and action, materialism and spiritual attainment.” Owning a newspaper was a longtime dream for the Kansas-born Mr. Awbrey, who began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of The Parsons (Kansas) Sun. He later attended Columbia University’s school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News.
As an Army reservist, Mr. Awbrey developed his editorial style with a series of iconoclastic dispatches from military bases during a period of Cold War tension in 1961. The stories won him a following among Kansas newspaper readers, but a reproach from his commanding officer.
Mr. Awbrey remained active in Union County journalism after selling The Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record and editor of The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. As an editor, Mr. Awbrey trained a cohort of young reporters in his newsrooms, exhorting them to dig deeply into their stories, but always be ready to “go with what you’ve got.” He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper
of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Throughout his career, Mr. Awbrey was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1994, Mr. Awbrey became a dogged advocate for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, working tirelessly to raise awareness about the disease and promoting the Alzheimer’s Association as a resource for information on treatments and other care. In 1999, he testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, saying, “I can’t allow myself to be preoccupied with the losses of the future — my longing to grow old along with my wife, sharing precious moments with my daughters and grandchildren. Instead, I focus on the present, living each day to its fullest. I want to urge this committee to do what you can, now, to fight this deadly disease. So many of us will be grateful for your efforts.” With his wife, he appeared on the “NBC Nightly News” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” His desire to communicate never waned, despite an increasing inability to speak clearly or form coherent sentences. His last interviews, documented by the public radio program “The Infinite Mind,” are heart-rending portraits of his courageous effort to share his experience with others. His diagnosis also sparked a rich period of research and writing, including his memoir and a detailed personal journal about his battle against a disease he called “the silent bullet.” In the journal, he chronicled the slow slipping away of his mental faculties and his efforts to block the progress of the disease through various experimental medications. Reading, writing, tennis and travel, including a camel safari into the Moroccan desert, were also staples in his self-prescribed treatment regimen.
The eldest of three children, Mr. Awbrey left his family home in Kansas early, serving as a Congressional page at the age of 17. But while he left his Midwestern childhood behind him, his commitment to family remained strong; he was particularly interested in his family’s Scottish roots and made several trips to Scotland, New England and the Shenandoah Valley to document his ancestry. His own family, including the standard schnauzer, served as a frequent foil in some of his lighthearted editorials.
Prior to his purchase of The Chronicle, Mr. Awbrey was involved in the Children’s Television Workshop (“Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company”) in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, the public relations firm. Before that he edited the Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine, a worldwide publication that took him around the globe, and was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration. He was also special assistant to U.S. Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently,
he was Senior Public Affairs Representative of IBM Corporation, where he was a speechwriter for IBM President Frank Cary.
Mr. Awbrey was born October 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He was a varsity letterman at Wooster and was a member of the “W” Association. He received
a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960, and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa. He later became a member of the Cranford Rotary Club. Mr. Awbrey was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Kimberley, of New Haven, Conn., and Lee, of Montpelier, Vt.; two granddaughters, Isabel and Catherine, both of New Haven; his
mother, Mrs. Nancy Swenarton, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a brother, John, of Colorado Springs, and a sister, Nancy, of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church in Summit.
.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
William Stuart Awbrey married Beverley Claybrook Bowie at Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland on 26 March 1966.
.
.
11 January 2004--PISCATAWAY DAILY NEWS
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Stuart Awbrey, 66, of Piscataway, N.J., formerly of Parsons, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004, in Piscataway, N.J., after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Awbrey was born Oct. 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955 and received a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He received a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960 and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa
He began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of the Parsons Sun. He later attended Columbia University's school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News
He had been involved in the Children's Television Workshop ("Sesame Street" and the "Electric Company") in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, a public relations firm.
Before that he edited the "Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine." He was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration.
He was also special assistant to U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently he was senior public affairs representative of IBM Corp.
He and his wife, Beverly, purchased The Cranford (N.J.) Chronicle in 1978 and he was the editor.
He received over 90 awards in his 11 years at The Chronicle.
He remained active in Union county journalism after selling the Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record, and editor of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
He was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
He was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
Survivors are his wife; two daughters, Kimberley of New Haven, Conn., and Lee of Montpelier, Vt.; two grand-daughters; his mother, Nancy Swenarton of Colorado Springs, Colo.; one brother, John of Colorado Springs; and a sister, Nancy of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Unitarian Church in Summit, N.J.
Memorials may be made to the Greater New Jersey chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood
Stuart Awbrey, 66, Chronicle Editor;
Advocate For Those With Alzheimer’s
Stuart Awbrey
Stuart Awbrey, a former newspaper editor whose award-winning community journalism and shoeleather civic boosterism revitalized The Cranford Chronicle in the 1980s, died on Sunday, January 11, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 66 years old. Mr. Awbrey bought The Cranford Chronicle with his wife, Beverley, in 1978, and refocused the paper’s coverage on local issues, including politics, crime, and the controversial redevelopment of Cranford’s downtown. As a husband-and-wife team, the Awbreys rejuvenated the nearly century-old paper, with Beverley artfully managing the paper’s lifeblood advertising section and Stuart holding down the editorial side. In his first Chronicle editorial, in 1978, Mr. Awbrey wrote that he would make no “instant judgments” on local issues, but gave notice that he would be heard from “gradually…and certainly not precipitously.” His careful reporting and tenacious editorializing – informed by a deeply held commitment to public service – led to more than 90 awards over his 11 years at The Chronicle. Among the paper’s most prestigious awards was the 1980 New Jersey Press Association’s Enterprise Award for a series on a tenure scandal in the Cranford school system, and the superintendent’s use of private investigators to spy on faculty members. The series also brought a financially crippling (and ultimately unsuccessful) lawsuit from the superintendent, but sealed Mr. Awbrey’s reputation as a fair and thoughtful public advocate. In his 1997 memoir, “Chronicles of a Community Journalist,” Mr. Awbrey recalled some of the heat his writing generated, and wrote that although he had been occasionally plagued by doubts, he remained committed to the ideals of public advocacy. “In all my years, I’ve gained much more than I’ve lost by speaking up,” he wrote. “And the town and its newspaper usually gained, too.” Mr. Awbrey carried his zeal for news to areas beyond politics, writing absorbing articles about subjects as diverse as the history of short-line railroads in New Jersey, local crimes and accidents, nudist bicyclists, UFO sightings, high school sports, local military veterans, and tornadoes. His enthusiasm for news was rooted in a passion for Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of constant action. “I always wanted to capture a bank robber,” Mr. Awbrey wrote in his memoir of his love of anticipating the unexpected and the thrill of a sudden scoop.
As a college student, Mr. Awbrey described journalism as “a chance to balance reason and passion, thought and action, materialism and spiritual attainment.” Owning a newspaper was a longtime dream for the Kansas-born Mr. Awbrey, who began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of The Parsons (Kansas) Sun. He later attended Columbia University’s school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News.
As an Army reservist, Mr. Awbrey developed his editorial style with a series of iconoclastic dispatches from military bases during a period of Cold War tension in 1961. The stories won him a following among Kansas newspaper readers, but a reproach from his commanding officer.
Mr. Awbrey remained active in Union County journalism after selling The Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record and editor of The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. As an editor, Mr. Awbrey trained a cohort of young reporters in his newsrooms, exhorting them to dig deeply into their stories, but always be ready to “go with what you’ve got.” He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper
of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Throughout his career, Mr. Awbrey was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1994, Mr. Awbrey became a dogged advocate for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, working tirelessly to raise awareness about the disease and promoting the Alzheimer’s Association as a resource for information on treatments and other care. In 1999, he testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, saying, “I can’t allow myself to be preoccupied with the losses of the future — my longing to grow old along with my wife, sharing precious moments with my daughters and grandchildren. Instead, I focus on the present, living each day to its fullest. I want to urge this committee to do what you can, now, to fight this deadly disease. So many of us will be grateful for your efforts.” With his wife, he appeared on the “NBC Nightly News” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” His desire to communicate never waned, despite an increasing inability to speak clearly or form coherent sentences. His last interviews, documented by the public radio program “The Infinite Mind,” are heart-rending portraits of his courageous effort to share his experience with others. His diagnosis also sparked a rich period of research and writing, including his memoir and a detailed personal journal about his battle against a disease he called “the silent bullet.” In the journal, he chronicled the slow slipping away of his mental faculties and his efforts to block the progress of the disease through various experimental medications. Reading, writing, tennis and travel, including a camel safari into the Moroccan desert, were also staples in his self-prescribed treatment regimen.
The eldest of three children, Mr. Awbrey left his family home in Kansas early, serving as a Congressional page at the age of 17. But while he left his Midwestern childhood behind him, his commitment to family remained strong; he was particularly interested in his family’s Scottish roots and made several trips to Scotland, New England and the Shenandoah Valley to document his ancestry. His own family, including the standard schnauzer, served as a frequent foil in some of his lighthearted editorials.
Prior to his purchase of The Chronicle, Mr. Awbrey was involved in the Children’s Television Workshop (“Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company”) in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, the public relations firm. Before that he edited the Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine, a worldwide publication that took him around the globe, and was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration. He was also special assistant to U.S. Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently,
he was Senior Public Affairs Representative of IBM Corporation, where he was a speechwriter for IBM President Frank Cary.
Mr. Awbrey was born October 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He was a varsity letterman at Wooster and was a member of the “W” Association. He received
a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960, and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa. He later became a member of the Cranford Rotary Club. Mr. Awbrey was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Kimberley, of New Haven, Conn., and Lee, of Montpelier, Vt.; two granddaughters, Isabel and Catherine, both of New Haven; his
mother, Mrs. Nancy Swenarton, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a brother, John, of Colorado Springs, and a sister, Nancy, of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church in Summit.
.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
William Stuart Awbrey married Beverley Claybrook Bowie at Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland on 26 March 1966.
.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
11 January 2004--PISCATAWAY DAILY NEWS
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Stuart Awbrey, 66, of Piscataway, N.J., formerly of Parsons, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004, in Piscataway, N.J., after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Awbrey was born Oct. 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955 and received a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He received a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960 and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa
He began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of the Parsons Sun. He later attended Columbia University's school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News
He had been involved in the Children's Television Workshop ("Sesame Street" and the "Electric Company") in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, a public relations firm.
Before that he edited the "Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine." He was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration.
He was also special assistant to U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently he was senior public affairs representative of IBM Corp.
He and his wife, Beverly, purchased The Cranford (N.J.) Chronicle in 1978 and he was the editor.
He received over 90 awards in his 11 years at The Chronicle.
He remained active in Union county journalism after selling the Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record, and editor of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
He was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
He was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
Survivors are his wife; two daughters, Kimberley of New Haven, Conn., and Lee of Montpelier, Vt.; two grand-daughters; his mother, Nancy Swenarton of Colorado Springs, Colo.; one brother, John of Colorado Springs; and a sister, Nancy of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Unitarian Church in Summit, N.J.
Memorials may be made to the Greater New Jersey chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood
Stuart Awbrey, 66, Chronicle Editor;
Advocate For Those With Alzheimer’s
Stuart Awbrey
Stuart Awbrey, a former newspaper editor whose award-winning community journalism and shoeleather civic boosterism revitalized The Cranford Chronicle in the 1980s, died on Sunday, January 11, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 66 years old. Mr. Awbrey bought The Cranford Chronicle with his wife, Beverley, in 1978, and refocused the paper’s coverage on local issues, including politics, crime, and the controversial redevelopment of Cranford’s downtown. As a husband-and-wife team, the Awbreys rejuvenated the nearly century-old paper, with Beverley artfully managing the paper’s lifeblood advertising section and Stuart holding down the editorial side. In his first Chronicle editorial, in 1978, Mr. Awbrey wrote that he would make no “instant judgments” on local issues, but gave notice that he would be heard from “gradually…and certainly not precipitously.” His careful reporting and tenacious editorializing – informed by a deeply held commitment to public service – led to more than 90 awards over his 11 years at The Chronicle. Among the paper’s most prestigious awards was the 1980 New Jersey Press Association’s Enterprise Award for a series on a tenure scandal in the Cranford school system, and the superintendent’s use of private investigators to spy on faculty members. The series also brought a financially crippling (and ultimately unsuccessful) lawsuit from the superintendent, but sealed Mr. Awbrey’s reputation as a fair and thoughtful public advocate. In his 1997 memoir, “Chronicles of a Community Journalist,” Mr. Awbrey recalled some of the heat his writing generated, and wrote that although he had been occasionally plagued by doubts, he remained committed to the ideals of public advocacy. “In all my years, I’ve gained much more than I’ve lost by speaking up,” he wrote. “And the town and its newspaper usually gained, too.” Mr. Awbrey carried his zeal for news to areas beyond politics, writing absorbing articles about subjects as diverse as the history of short-line railroads in New Jersey, local crimes and accidents, nudist bicyclists, UFO sightings, high school sports, local military veterans, and tornadoes. His enthusiasm for news was rooted in a passion for Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of constant action. “I always wanted to capture a bank robber,” Mr. Awbrey wrote in his memoir of his love of anticipating the unexpected and the thrill of a sudden scoop.
As a college student, Mr. Awbrey described journalism as “a chance to balance reason and passion, thought and action, materialism and spiritual attainment.” Owning a newspaper was a longtime dream for the Kansas-born Mr. Awbrey, who began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of The Parsons (Kansas) Sun. He later attended Columbia University’s school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News.
As an Army reservist, Mr. Awbrey developed his editorial style with a series of iconoclastic dispatches from military bases during a period of Cold War tension in 1961. The stories won him a following among Kansas newspaper readers, but a reproach from his commanding officer.
Mr. Awbrey remained active in Union County journalism after selling The Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record and editor of The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. As an editor, Mr. Awbrey trained a cohort of young reporters in his newsrooms, exhorting them to dig deeply into their stories, but always be ready to “go with what you’ve got.” He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper
of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Throughout his career, Mr. Awbrey was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1994, Mr. Awbrey became a dogged advocate for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, working tirelessly to raise awareness about the disease and promoting the Alzheimer’s Association as a resource for information on treatments and other care. In 1999, he testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, saying, “I can’t allow myself to be preoccupied with the losses of the future — my longing to grow old along with my wife, sharing precious moments with my daughters and grandchildren. Instead, I focus on the present, living each day to its fullest. I want to urge this committee to do what you can, now, to fight this deadly disease. So many of us will be grateful for your efforts.” With his wife, he appeared on the “NBC Nightly News” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” His desire to communicate never waned, despite an increasing inability to speak clearly or form coherent sentences. His last interviews, documented by the public radio program “The Infinite Mind,” are heart-rending portraits of his courageous effort to share his experience with others. His diagnosis also sparked a rich period of research and writing, including his memoir and a detailed personal journal about his battle against a disease he called “the silent bullet.” In the journal, he chronicled the slow slipping away of his mental faculties and his efforts to block the progress of the disease through various experimental medications. Reading, writing, tennis and travel, including a camel safari into the Moroccan desert, were also staples in his self-prescribed treatment regimen.
The eldest of three children, Mr. Awbrey left his family home in Kansas early, serving as a Congressional page at the age of 17. But while he left his Midwestern childhood behind him, his commitment to family remained strong; he was particularly interested in his family’s Scottish roots and made several trips to Scotland, New England and the Shenandoah Valley to document his ancestry. His own family, including the standard schnauzer, served as a frequent foil in some of his lighthearted editorials.
Prior to his purchase of The Chronicle, Mr. Awbrey was involved in the Children’s Television Workshop (“Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company”) in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, the public relations firm. Before that he edited the Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine, a worldwide publication that took him around the globe, and was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration. He was also special assistant to U.S. Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently,
he was Senior Public Affairs Representative of IBM Corporation, where he was a speechwriter for IBM President Frank Cary.
Mr. Awbrey was born October 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He was a varsity letterman at Wooster and was a member of the “W” Association. He received
a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960, and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa. He later became a member of the Cranford Rotary Club. Mr. Awbrey was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Kimberley, of New Haven, Conn., and Lee, of Montpelier, Vt.; two granddaughters, Isabel and Catherine, both of New Haven; his
mother, Mrs. Nancy Swenarton, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a brother, John, of Colorado Springs, and a sister, Nancy, of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church in Summit.
.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
William Stuart Awbrey married Beverley Claybrook Bowie at Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland on 26 March 1966.
.
.
11 January 2004--PISCATAWAY DAILY NEWS
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Stuart Awbrey, 66, of Piscataway, N.J., formerly of Parsons, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004, in Piscataway, N.J., after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Awbrey was born Oct. 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955 and received a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He received a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960 and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa
He began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of the Parsons Sun. He later attended Columbia University's school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News
He had been involved in the Children's Television Workshop ("Sesame Street" and the "Electric Company") in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, a public relations firm.
Before that he edited the "Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine." He was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration.
He was also special assistant to U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently he was senior public affairs representative of IBM Corp.
He and his wife, Beverly, purchased The Cranford (N.J.) Chronicle in 1978 and he was the editor.
He received over 90 awards in his 11 years at The Chronicle.
He remained active in Union county journalism after selling the Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record, and editor of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
He was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
He was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
Survivors are his wife; two daughters, Kimberley of New Haven, Conn., and Lee of Montpelier, Vt.; two grand-daughters; his mother, Nancy Swenarton of Colorado Springs, Colo.; one brother, John of Colorado Springs; and a sister, Nancy of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Unitarian Church in Summit, N.J.
Memorials may be made to the Greater New Jersey chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood
Stuart Awbrey, 66, Chronicle Editor;
Advocate For Those With Alzheimer’s
Stuart Awbrey
Stuart Awbrey, a former newspaper editor whose award-winning community journalism and shoeleather civic boosterism revitalized The Cranford Chronicle in the 1980s, died on Sunday, January 11, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 66 years old. Mr. Awbrey bought The Cranford Chronicle with his wife, Beverley, in 1978, and refocused the paper’s coverage on local issues, including politics, crime, and the controversial redevelopment of Cranford’s downtown. As a husband-and-wife team, the Awbreys rejuvenated the nearly century-old paper, with Beverley artfully managing the paper’s lifeblood advertising section and Stuart holding down the editorial side. In his first Chronicle editorial, in 1978, Mr. Awbrey wrote that he would make no “instant judgments” on local issues, but gave notice that he would be heard from “gradually…and certainly not precipitously.” His careful reporting and tenacious editorializing – informed by a deeply held commitment to public service – led to more than 90 awards over his 11 years at The Chronicle. Among the paper’s most prestigious awards was the 1980 New Jersey Press Association’s Enterprise Award for a series on a tenure scandal in the Cranford school system, and the superintendent’s use of private investigators to spy on faculty members. The series also brought a financially crippling (and ultimately unsuccessful) lawsuit from the superintendent, but sealed Mr. Awbrey’s reputation as a fair and thoughtful public advocate. In his 1997 memoir, “Chronicles of a Community Journalist,” Mr. Awbrey recalled some of the heat his writing generated, and wrote that although he had been occasionally plagued by doubts, he remained committed to the ideals of public advocacy. “In all my years, I’ve gained much more than I’ve lost by speaking up,” he wrote. “And the town and its newspaper usually gained, too.” Mr. Awbrey carried his zeal for news to areas beyond politics, writing absorbing articles about subjects as diverse as the history of short-line railroads in New Jersey, local crimes and accidents, nudist bicyclists, UFO sightings, high school sports, local military veterans, and tornadoes. His enthusiasm for news was rooted in a passion for Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of constant action. “I always wanted to capture a bank robber,” Mr. Awbrey wrote in his memoir of his love of anticipating the unexpected and the thrill of a sudden scoop.
As a college student, Mr. Awbrey described journalism as “a chance to balance reason and passion, thought and action, materialism and spiritual attainment.” Owning a newspaper was a longtime dream for the Kansas-born Mr. Awbrey, who began his journalism career on the sports and copy desks of The Parsons (Kansas) Sun. He later attended Columbia University’s school of journalism and worked on the metro desk of the Chicago Daily News.
As an Army reservist, Mr. Awbrey developed his editorial style with a series of iconoclastic dispatches from military bases during a period of Cold War tension in 1961. The stories won him a following among Kansas newspaper readers, but a reproach from his commanding officer.
Mr. Awbrey remained active in Union County journalism after selling The Chronicle in 1989. He joined Forbes Newspapers as the founding editor of The Westfield Record and editor of The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Press. As an editor, Mr. Awbrey trained a cohort of young reporters in his newsrooms, exhorting them to dig deeply into their stories, but always be ready to “go with what you’ve got.” He capped his career as editor of The New Jersey Lawyer, the newspaper
of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Throughout his career, Mr. Awbrey was active in the New Jersey State Press Association, serving as a director for eight years and holding several committee positions.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1994, Mr. Awbrey became a dogged advocate for Alzheimer’s patients and their families, working tirelessly to raise awareness about the disease and promoting the Alzheimer’s Association as a resource for information on treatments and other care. In 1999, he testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, saying, “I can’t allow myself to be preoccupied with the losses of the future — my longing to grow old along with my wife, sharing precious moments with my daughters and grandchildren. Instead, I focus on the present, living each day to its fullest. I want to urge this committee to do what you can, now, to fight this deadly disease. So many of us will be grateful for your efforts.” With his wife, he appeared on the “NBC Nightly News” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” His desire to communicate never waned, despite an increasing inability to speak clearly or form coherent sentences. His last interviews, documented by the public radio program “The Infinite Mind,” are heart-rending portraits of his courageous effort to share his experience with others. His diagnosis also sparked a rich period of research and writing, including his memoir and a detailed personal journal about his battle against a disease he called “the silent bullet.” In the journal, he chronicled the slow slipping away of his mental faculties and his efforts to block the progress of the disease through various experimental medications. Reading, writing, tennis and travel, including a camel safari into the Moroccan desert, were also staples in his self-prescribed treatment regimen.
The eldest of three children, Mr. Awbrey left his family home in Kansas early, serving as a Congressional page at the age of 17. But while he left his Midwestern childhood behind him, his commitment to family remained strong; he was particularly interested in his family’s Scottish roots and made several trips to Scotland, New England and the Shenandoah Valley to document his ancestry. His own family, including the standard schnauzer, served as a frequent foil in some of his lighthearted editorials.
Prior to his purchase of The Chronicle, Mr. Awbrey was involved in the Children’s Television Workshop (“Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company”) in New York City, as a vice president and account executive of Carl Byoir and Associates, the public relations firm. Before that he edited the Peace Corps Volunteer Magazine, a worldwide publication that took him around the globe, and was a spokesman for the agency during the Johnson Administration. He was also special assistant to U.S. Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois in Washington. Subsequently,
he was Senior Public Affairs Representative of IBM Corporation, where he was a speechwriter for IBM President Frank Cary.
Mr. Awbrey was born October 13, 1937, in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1955, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio. He was a varsity letterman at Wooster and was a member of the “W” Association. He received
a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia in 1960, and was a Rotary Fellow for International Understanding at the University of Ghana in West Africa. He later became a member of the Cranford Rotary Club. Mr. Awbrey was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the National Newspaper Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Kimberley, of New Haven, Conn., and Lee, of Montpelier, Vt.; two granddaughters, Isabel and Catherine, both of New Haven; his
mother, Mrs. Nancy Swenarton, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a brother, John, of Colorado Springs, and a sister, Nancy, of Pasadena, Calif.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church in Summit.
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William Stuart Awbrey married Beverley Claybrook Bowie at Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland on 26 March 1966.
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