Dean Stanley Lesher (August 4, 1903 – May 13, 1993) was an American newspaper publisher, founder of the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the Eas ...

'' and the Contra Costa Newspapers chain. He was also a well-known

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

Life

Lesher was born August 4, 1903, the son of Margaret and David Lesher, in Williamsport,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. His first business experience began when he opened a small ice cream stand at the age of 10. When he was 12, he gave that up for a job in a local

tannery Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin ** Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun ** Sunless tanning, application of a stain or d ...

partially owned by his father. In his high school years Lesher found work as a railroad waybill clerk and was active in sports, playing football, baseball, and soccer. He attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

, and proceeded to earn a law degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He was married to Kathryn Lesher who would die of cancer in 1971. He was later remarried to Margaret Lesher until his death in 1993 at the age of 90. In 1997 Margaret Lesher drowned under mysterious circumstances in Bartlett Lake in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

while on a camping trip with her husband of six months Collin "T.C." Thorstenson.

Newspapers

Though he had a successful legal practice in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, Lesher grew bored with law and found himself fascinated with

newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...

, especially their ability, in his view, to shape and improve a community. Initially, he acquired a small paper in Nebraska but he found no way to generate a profit. In 1941, at the age of 39 Lesher and his family moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

where he purchased a small daily, the

Merced Sun-Star The ''Merced Sun-Star'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California, in the United States. It has an estimated circulation of 20,000 copies. The newspaper is published every day except for Sundays. History The ''Merced Sun-Star ...

. While the local economy was booming with the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative ...

, civilian

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

meant empty store shelves and little to no advertising revenues. Lesher invited some prominent local business owners to dinner and asked them to advertise for the sake of the area paper. In this way, he solidified the paper's financial position. After the war, Lesher sought other opportunities and found them in

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

. Shortly after buying the ''Walnut Creek Journal-Courier'' in 1947, he renamed it the ''Contra Costa Times'' to reflect its growing primacy in the region. Readers of the Times referred to it as "the green sheet" because the cover page was printed on green newsprint. Even though the Times was delivered without a subscription Lesher had his delivery people make a monthly attempt to collect delivery fees from readers. Over time, he purchased other papers in the region and pioneered a series of new subscription tactics including both "controlled circulation" and a gradual shift from free weekly to paid daily papers. In 1977, the California Press Association awarded Lesher with its Publisher of the Year award. In 1983,

President Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

presented Lesher with the highest award granted by the

National Newspaper Association The National Newspaper Association (NNA) is a Pensacola, FL based non-profit newspaper trade association founded in 1885. The organization has over 2,300 members, making it the largest newspaper trade association in the United States. The organiza ...

for distinguished leadership.

Legacy

In 1995, Lesher's heirs sold the papers. The ''Contra Costa Times'' was sold to Knight-Ridder for $365 million. The ''Merced Sun-Star'' was sold to USMedia Group. Firmly committed to the ideals of

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

, Lesher was known for his generous donations of both time and money. He served on the

Board of Governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

of the California Community College System, and as a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

of the California State University System,

St. Mary's College Saint Mary's College (in French, ''Collège Sainte-Marie''), is the name of several colleges and schools: Australia *St Mary's College, Ipswich, an all-girls Catholic school in Queensland *St Mary's College, Maryborough, a co-educational school i ...

, and

John F. Kennedy University John F. Kennedy University was a private university based in California with offices in Pleasant Hill, California, Pleasant Hill, San Jose, California, San Jose in California; Natick, Massachusetts; and Willemstad, Curaçao. The university was ...

. His mark should be familiar in the Dean and Kathryn Lesher Library at

Merced Junior College Merced College is a public community college in Merced, California. History In 1961, the Merced High and Le Grand High School Districts petitioned the State Board of Education for permission to set an election to approve the establishment of ...

, the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek s ...

, and the Margaret Lesher Student Union Building of Diablo Valley College. The Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, established in 1989, continues to be administered by Lesher's heirs, and it grants millions of dollars annually for community improvement and educational scholarships.

References

External links

California Newspaper Hall of Fame, Dean LesherDean Lesher Center for the Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesher, Dean 1993 deaths American newspaper chain founders 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area University of Maryland, College Park alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Concord, California 1903 births Journalists from California 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American journalists American male journalists