Eugene S. Pulliam

Eugene Smith Pulliam (September 7 1914 - January 20 1999) was the publisher of the "Indianapolis Star" and the "Indianapolis News" from 1975 until his death.

Pulliam began his journalism career as a child, delivering "The Lebanon Reporter" and "The Indianapolis News." He later had an apprenticeship at the "Reporter." After graduating from DePauw University in 1935, Pulliam worked for the United Press news service - in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; and Buffalo, New York. He then returned to Indianapolis to serve as news director of WIRE-AM.

He was in the Navy and Naval Reserve during World War II and retired in 1948 as a lieutenant commander. Pulliam then returned to the "Star", serving as aviation editor, assistant city editor and city editor. He was named managing editor of the "News" in 1948 and became assistant publisher of both papers in 1962 under his father, Eugene C. Pulliam.

Eugene C. Pulliam died on June 23, 1975, leaving his son to take over the helm. The "Star" won two Pulitzer Prizes during the younger Pulliam's tenure - one for a series on police corruption in 1975 and Indiana's medical malpractice system in 1991.

Unlike his father, "Young Gene" was quiet and calm and did not allow his conservative views to leak into the news columns. But he was also a penny-pincher and kept a close eye on the company's budget, except when the accountants suggested charging for obituaries. "People get mentioned in the paper only when they are born and when they die," he once said, "so we're not going to charge them for dying."

Pulliam was married to the former Jane Bleecker and they had three children. Both he and his wife are buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

Pulliam's nephew, Dan Quayle, became Vice President of the United States.

References

*http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/p/pulliam/pulliam_eugene_s.html ("Star" library biography of Pulliam)

*"Star in the Hoosier Sky: The Indianapolis Star in the Years the City Came Alive 1950-1990" by Lawrence S. "Bo" Connor (2006, Hawthorne Publishing, Carmel, Indiana)

*Crown Hill Cemetery - http://crownhill.org/