Richard B. Scudder, co-founder of MediaNews Group
Inc., publisher of the former Newark Evening News, and the man who helped invent a process allowing newsprint to be
recycled, died today at his home in Atlantic Highlands, NJ at the age of 99.
The Associated Press reports:
A native of Newark, Scudder was born May 13, 1913, into a newspaper
family. His grandfather, Wallace Scudder, founded the Newark Evening
News and his father, Edward Scudder, ran it.
Richard Scudder worked as a reporter for the Boston Herald before
joining the Evening News as a reporter in 1938. He took over from his
father as publisher of the Evening News in 1952, a post he held for 20
years.
In 1983, Scudder and Singleton bought the Gloucester County Times of
Woodbury and later purchased Today’s Sunbeam of Salem and several small
papers in Ohio and California.
Their partnership eventually became MediaNews Group, a
privately-owned company whose newspaper holdings include The Denver
Post, The Detroit News and San Jose Mercury News.
Its 57 newspapers in 11 states have combined daily circulations of
2.3 million, making MediaNews one of the nation’s largest newspaper
companies. It also owns a television station in Alaska and radio
stations in Texas.
In the early 1950s, Scudder had a hand in inventing a process to
remove ink from newsprint so newspapers could be recycled into quality
newsprint. After being approached by a news dealer who came up with the
idea, Scudder initially tested the process in his office and home before
moving the research to university and laboratory settings, according to
the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wisc.
Scudder was admitted to the hall in 1995.
He went on to found the Garden State Paper Co., whose mill in
Garfield began production in 1961. The firm later opened several other
plants and became among the largest in the world to recycle newspapers
into newsprint.
Read the full story here.
Related:
The Once Great Newark Evening News: A Remembrance & Obituary
Richard Scudder – Paper Industry International Hall of Fame (Video)
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