Eugene Patterson | 1923-2013

He made a mark

Eugene Patterson, a former Times Publishing Co. editor and CEO who crusaded for civil rights in American society and higher standards in America’s newsrooms, died Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.

During his 41 years in journalism, Mr. Patterson won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, served as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and led the Times through an era of rapid growth and recognition by Time magazine as one of America’s 10 best newspapers.

Mr. Patterson also served in World War II in George S. Patton's Third Army and was a high-ranking editor at the Washington Post. But his enduring legacy came with an editorial he had written at the Atlanta Constitution after four little girls died in a church bombing in Birmingham, Ala. In "A Flower for the Graves," he wrote: "If our South is ever to be what we wish it to be, we will plant a flower of nobler resolve for the South now upon these four small graves that we dug."

At the Times, Mr. Patterson also helped cement an ownership structure that has ensured its independence all of these years. A tile block at the Poynter Insitute for Media Studies, which owns the Times, contains a quote from Mr. Patterson that sums up his approach to his life and career:

"Don't just make a living, make a mark."

• Former Times editor Eugene Patterson, who championed civil rights and journalistic excellence, dies at 89

• Eugene Patterson's final column for the Times
• Eugene Patterson's 'A Flower for the Graves' column

• Sign a guestbook