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Donald Baldwin, 88, led Times to prestige

The editor who brought new respect to the St. Petersburg Times and the Poynter Institute died Monday.

By CRAIG BASSE
Published August 8, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - When Donald K. Baldwin liked something in that morning's paper, the lanky editor might stroll across the St. Petersburg Times newsroom, pound on the reporter's desk and loudly compliment the story.

He wanted the news reported hard, fast and straight, like the wire services do it. And to get what he wanted, he liked to lead by example. A reporter struggling with a story might well find Mr. Baldwin sliding a piece of paper into the typewriter, banging out something, then asking: "What if we do it this way?"

For 14 years, Mr. Baldwin was a key executive as the paper grew in size, sophistication and prestige and won its first Pulitzer Prize. And though a falling out with then-chairman Nelson Poynter prompted his departure from the paper in 1972, three years later he became the first president of the school for journalists -- now called the Poynter Institute - that Poynter created.

Mr. Baldwin died Monday (Aug. 7, 2006) at Northside Hospital and Heart Institute from complications following heart surgery, said his wife, Patricia "Pat" Irwin Baldwin. He was 88.

"Nelson Poynter trusted Don both with his newspaper, which won its first Pulitzer while Don was editor, and with the school that would become the Poynter Institute," said Paul C. Tash, chairman, chief executive officer and editor of the Times.

"Don's leadership helped lift both these institutions as centers of journalistic excellence that would be recognized far beyond St. Petersburg."

Mr. Baldwin was living half a world away when he was invited in 1957 to move to St. Petersburg and take on the biggest challenge of his life. The 6-foot-3 Idahoan was working in Tokyo for the Associated Press when Poynter and his wife came to town.

The AP, a cooperative news-gathering organization, gave the Poynters, as newspaper owners, the royal treatment, Mr. Baldwin once recalled. Significantly, Mr. Baldwin and Poynter hit it off as friends.

At that time Mr. Baldwin was Tokyo news editor for the AP, in charge of the wire service's reporting from Japan, Korea and Okinawa. He was 40 years old.

Poynter, 55 at the time, had decided it was time to plan for the future. A younger editor was needed. In Tokyo he found the editor he was looking for.

A longtime colleague, former Times executive editor and Poynter president emeritus Bob Haiman, recalled Mr. Baldwin's arrival at the Times.

"He found the pace in the newsroom of 1958 to be far too leisurely and set out to change it. Everything about Don, even the way he walked around the newsroom - very quickly and leaning forward about 10 degrees - said, 'Let's pick up the pace, folks - this is a deadline business!' And the staff quickly picked up the new pace."

His era, 1958-72, saw rapid growth of the Times. Daily circulation reached 100,000 in 1959 and 163,513 in 1971, when the Times pulled ahead of the Tampa Tribune as Florida's second-biggest newspaper, behind the Miami Herald.

While the Times was growing bigger in circulation, it also was getting better.

Mr. Baldwin took advantage of improved color capability to make the Times a brighter, more informative newspaper. To the staff he issued a blunt order: Every section front would run color every day, unless he specifically said otherwise.

There was plenty to read in the paper, too.

Times writers and photographers chronicled polarizing strikes by teachers and garbage workers in 1968, the opening of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Bayfront Center, the economic slide of downtown and the end of St. Petersburg's fabled green benches.

The newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for reporting that led to the ouster of the state Turnpike Authority chairman and a reorganization of Florida's auditing and bonding practices.

For a time, Mr. Baldwin seemed destined to take control of the paper when Poynter died. But a once-harmonious relationship began to deteriorate as the two strong-willed men clashed over matters small and large.

It finally came to a head, Mr. Baldwin once recalled, when Poynter criticized the editors for running too many photos of black people. Mr. Baldwin exploded in anger and stormed from the room.

Shortly thereafter, Poynter found a new heir apparent in Eugene Patterson, who came to the paper in 1972 and ultimately became chairman of the company.

"A relationship like that, like we had - like you have to have - is not unlike a marriage in many ways," Mr. Baldwin said. "And when a marriage breaks up, who can say, 'Well, it's because of this or because of that.' It usually is a series of little things. ... I'm sure I was at fault as much as he or even more. When you own the paper you're not to blame."

Despite their editorial differences, Poynter and Mr. Baldwin remained friendly.

As a result, when it came time for Poynter to select the first executive director for his new school, Mr. Baldwin got the nod.

So at 57, Mr. Baldwin launched a new career that he called "this exciting, new experiment which we hope will combine the best of the professional and academic worlds."

"He was a key figure in building the (Poynter) institute, starting from nothing," said Andy Barnes, a retired Times editor, chairman and chief executive officer. He added that Mr. Baldwin "distinguished himself not only by his competence but by his kindness."

"Don was a great editor, a great educator and a great human being," said Bob Pittman, retired editor of editorials. "He guided the Times to higher levels of excellence. His careful direction started the Poynter on a solid foundation."

Mr. Baldwin was born in Vermilion, S.D., but grew up in Moscow and Pocatello, Idaho, where his father was on the faculty of the University of Idaho.

Survivors, in addition to his wife of 28 years, include a son, Dr. Steven Baldwin, of Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; a daughter, Lori Baldwin Smith, of Arlington, Texas; six stepchildren, Michael Robison, of New Jersey, Mary Robison Wolfe, of St. Petersburg, Timothy Robison, of North Carolina, Anne Robison Emnett, of Lake Butler, Brian Robison, of St. Petersburg, and Kathryn Robison Bowden, of Atlanta; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

A gathering of friends and colleagues will be at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Poynter Institute.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the Don Baldwin Scholarships for Aspiring Young Journalists at the Poynter Institute, 801 Third St. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

[Last modified August 8, 2006, 00:31:26]