Edward L. Fike (1920-2011) was a journalist and publisher in California, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.
Biography
Childhood, education, and military service
Fike was born March 31, 1920, in
Delmar, Maryland
Delmar is a town in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,003 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. When the population is added to Delmar, Delaware, the to ...
, to Claudius Edwin Fike and Rosa Lake Pegram. He was reared in
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 1941 and graduated as an
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
from the Naval Officer Candidate School at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
in 1942.Caroline Dipping, biography, ''San Diego Union-Tribune,'' September 6, 2011 At Duke, he was a member of Red Friars and
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...
, honorary leadership organizations, and was president of the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
branch.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Fike was a
navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
aboard the
ammunition ship
An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...
amphibious ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...
USS Rushmore during the latter's participation in the
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...
.
Career
After the war, Fike took his first
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
Nelsonville, Ohio
Nelsonville is a city in northwest York Township in Athens County, Ohio. It is 60 miles southeast of Columbus. The population was 4,612 at the 2020 census originally, but an official citywide recount found the population to be 5,373, thus maint ...
, and in 1948 he began a stint as director of
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
at Duke University. In 1950 he worked in the office of the
United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...
, and in 1951 he was a member of the United States delegation to the formation of the
North Atlantic Council
The North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), consisting of permanent representatives of its member countries. It was established by Article 9 of the North A ...
, the governing body of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in
Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
associate editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
seized the newspaper, which was the oldest in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, and a sister publication, ''Harbor Mail,'' in April 1963 for failure to pay taxes withheld from employees'
salaries
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis.
F ...
. The building was shuttered and the 23 workers told to go home.
Fike was publisher of the ''Woodland Hills Reporter'' in 1967.
In 1967, coverage of a school-attendance-boundary dispute in
Sunland-Tujunga
Sunland-Tujunga is a Los Angeles city neighborhood within the Crescenta Valley and Verdugo Mountains. Sunland and Tujunga began as separate settlements and today are linked through a single police station, branch library, neighborhood council ...
, where Fike owned and edited the ''Record-Ledger,'' "according to many, sharpened the controversy," which had racial overtones.
Jerry Cohen of the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Fike:
willfully aggravated dissension with "inflammatory editorials" and "slanted news." One minister said he considers the newspaper "a divisive force" in all community affairs involving so-called liberal and conservative issues." . . . But Fike denies intent to present the news less than objectively and insists his . . . editorials merely reflect sincere personal belief in conservative principles.
The ''Times'' printed a response from Fike which stated, in part: "The suspicion grows and grows that the os AngelesBoard of Education by a one-vote margin knowingly sacrificed the Shadow Hills neighborhood upon the altar of forced integration as demanded by agitators and by the U.S. government as its price for federal aid."
Fike moved to
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, in 1970 as director of news and editorial analysis for Copley Newspapers, and in 1977 he was named editor of the
editorial
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...
pages of the ''
San Diego Union
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
''.
Political opinions
Fike in 1960 called for
Montana State University
Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...
President Harry K. Newburn to "knock heads together starting with Dr.
Leslie Fiedler
Leslie Aaron Fiedler (March 8, 1917 – January 29, 2003) was an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work incorporates the application of psychological theories to American lit ...
" (an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction) and quoted a letter from an English Department instructor who accused the department of promoting material of a pornographic nature and making a mockery of religion and morals.
In 1962, Fike "called for a stronger stand against communism throughout the world; charged that intellectual and moral failures have paved the way for communism; claimed that equality cannot be conferred but must be earned; and accused Americans of abandoning the virtues that made the nation strong and no longer holding the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
living at 1512 Strand,
Manhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...
On the night of August 12, 1959, three .22-caliber bullets were fired toward the Fikes home in Lewistown, two of them entering the house and just missing the head of Mrs. Fikes. Ray Wilson, who was a ''Lewistown Daily News'' reporter at the time, was charged with first-degree assault. A jury found Wilson not guilty on December 10, 1960.Associated Press, "Ex-Lewiston Reporter Found Innocent," ''Montana Standard,'' December 11, 1960, image 35 /ref>
Wilson filed two civil claims of
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
against the Fike Publishing Company, whose newspaper had published a letter by Henry Ronish of Denton in which Ronish said the unidentified shooter had an "unbalanced mind" and was a "menace to society." A judge sustained a
demurrer
A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party. The word ''demur'' means "to object"; a ''demurrer'' is the document that makes the objection. Lawyers informally define a demurrer as a de ...
which stated there was no
cause of action
A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...
Encinitas, California
Encinitas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between ...
, on August 26, 2011, at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Amy Drake of
Lafayette, Alabama
LaFayette ( , ) is the county seat of Chambers County, Alabama, United States, northwest of Columbus, Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 3,003.
History
Chambers County was formed in 1832. The newly elected county of ...
, and
Cardiff, California
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, usually referred to as Cardiff, is a beach community in the incorporated city of Encinitas in San Diego County, California. The Pacific Ocean is to the west of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, the rest of incorporated Encinitas is to the ea ...
; a sister, Ruth Pittman of
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
; and four daughters. He was predeceased by his twin brother, Claude Fike, and a sister, Evelyn Laupus.