Retired chairman of Times honored

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 11, 2000

NAPLES, Fla. -- Eugene Patterson, the retired chairman and editor of the St. Petersburg Times, was honored Saturday by Leadership Florida for a lifetime of leadership.

Patterson received the organization's annual LeRoy Collins Lifetime Achievement Award at the group's annual meeting in Naples.

Leadership Florida, an affiliate of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, was created in 1982 to identify and train leaders from around the state and build what it calls "a strong sense of statewide community."

Each year, the organization recognizes one person whose leadership has improved the lives of Florida residents and its future generations. The award is named for Collins, who was Florida governor from 1955-61. Previous winners include former Gov. Reubin Askew, Lakeland lawyer Chesterfield Smith and U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami.

Patterson said he was honored to receive an award named for Collins, "who in his service to the state of Florida became my all-time hero."

Patterson reminded the audience that leadership often comes at a personal price, as demonstrated by Collins and other Southern political leaders who were punished at the polls for their efforts to advance civil rights.

"The leaders who told the people the truth, as LeRoy Collins did, were never elected to anything again," said Patterson. "Leadership isn't always about winning."

Patterson, 76, came to Florida in 1972 as editor and president of the Times. When Nelson Poynter died in 1978, Patterson succeeded him as chairman and chief executive of the newspaper company and its affiliates, posts he held until retirement in 1988.

Patterson, who grew up on a small farm in south Georgia, graduated from the University of Georgia in 1943, served as a tank platoon leader under Gen. George S. Patton Jr. in World War II and then embarked on a journalism career in 1947.

During that 41-year career, he served as London bureau chief of United Press (now called United Press International), editor of the Atlanta Constitution and managing editor of the Washington Post before coming to St. Petersburg. He won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1967 and served as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1977-78.

In St. Petersburg, he led the Times through an era of rapid growth and recognition by Time magazine in 1984 as one of America's 10 best newspapers. Twice during his tenure, the paper won Pulitzers.

Patterson served as vice chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission from 1964-68. He is a trustee emeritus of Duke University and has received honorary degrees from 15 institutions, including Duke, Harvard, Emory and Indiana universities.

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