Turner Catledge

Turner Catledge (left) sitting with columnistJoseph Alsop(right) at theWhite House.

William Turner Catledge(/ˈkætlɪdʒ/;1901–1983) was an American journalist, best known for his work atThe New York Times.He was managing editor from 1952 to 1964 when he became the paper's first executive editor.

After retiring in 1968, he served briefly on the board of The New York Times company as a vice president. He published his autobiography,My Life and The Times,in 1971.

Early life

Catledge was born on March 17, 1901, to his parents, Lee Johnston Catledge and Willie Anna Turner, and older sister Bessie Lee Catledge, on his grandfather's 900-acre (3.6 km²) farm inAckerman, Mississippi.When he was three, his family moved toPhiladelphia, Mississippi.After graduating from Philadelphia High School in 1918, he enrolled atMississippi A&Mwith a science major.

Career in journalism

Catledge's first news job was at fourteen years old for theNeshoba Democrat,setting type.After college, theDemocratoffered him another job but instead, he became editor of theTunica Times(Tunica, Mississippi) in 1922. Clayton Rand, the publisher of the Times (a newspaper aligned with the interests of white planters), ran a series of stories denouncing theKu Klux Klan;under intense pressure from local merchants, Rand sold the newspaper to another publisher, putting Catledge out of work.Catledge later served as managing editor and mechanical superintendent of theTupelo Journal(Tupelo, Mississippi), and then worked forThe Commercial AppealinMemphis, Tennessee.

Finally, in the spring of 1929, Catledge began working atThe New York Times,starting in theNew Yorkbureau, until later when he began work in the company'sWashington, D.C.bureau as a reporter covering theU.S. House of Representatives.

In the winter of 1941, he left the New York Times to become chief correspondent and later Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Sun. In 1943, he was rehired by The New York Times as a national correspondent.

Over the remainder of his career, he worked for theTimesas managing editor, executive editor, and last as the company's vice president.

Family life

On March 19, 1931, Catledge marriedMildred Turpin,with whom he had two children, Mildred Lee in 1932, and Ellen Douglas in 1936. They married at theChurch of the Transfigurationin New York. In 1949, Catledge and wife Mildreddivorced;he married his second wife,widowAbby Ray Izard,in December 1957.

Catledge was a first cousin of theNew Orleans-based journalistIris Turner Kelso.

Death

Turner Catledge died in 1983, age 82.

Honors and recognition

Catledge was a member of the Century Club in New York, the Metropolitan Club in Washington and the Boston Club in New Orleans, among others, and held honorary degrees from Tulane and Washington and Lee Universities and the University of Kentucky. In 1971, he received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.

In literature

• The Broadway playThe Girls in 509by authorHoward M. Teichmannwas dedicated to Turner Catledge.

To TURNER CATLEDGE, gentleman journalist, who nightly played his role faultlessly, whose behavior before, during, and after each performance was exemplary—and whose good humour and graciousness are deeply appreciated.