Ink instead of blood: death of a newspaper man

Brumby had a law degree but never practiced.

Today's heavenly headline reads: 

Presses Pause for Brumby

Otis A. Brumby, April 4, 1940 - September 8, 2012

A solemn Celebration of Life for Otis A. Brumby, deceased publisher of the Marietta Daily Journal, was held this morning at First United Methodist Church of Marietta, Ga. Only single tears from me, a fellow journalist, seemed to be shed for someone I had never met. We shared something in common, though: respect for the truth and the printed word.

Brumby succumbed to cancer at home last Saturday after a two year battle. The ceremony focused on his love for his wife, family, community, paper, and Lake Allatoona vacation home.

Service - piano donated by Brumby

The Rev. Dr. Sam R. Matthews eulogized Brumby after beautiful piano solos were accomplished by renowned pianist Randall Atchison. The church's Steinway piano was donated by the Brumby family.

"Critics respected him...although his paper was sometimes harsh," Matthews opined. He said Brumby spoke about the Marietta Daily Journal, which he ran for 45 years, in the third person.  "Great newspapers take great owners of courage."  He said Brumby wanted  readers to have a love for answers and to become part of the action.

"He did pay a price," Matthews said, from threatening phone calls and letters addressed to him, his family, and his newspaper.  "But he stood up under all of that."  Matthews said although Brumby had cancer,  he also told him, "I have ink in my veins."

Family comments came from Otis  A. Brumby, III, the only son in a family of four daughters. He spoke of his father's common sense values, conservative K-car ownership, respect for the First Amendment, and high regard for open meetings and transparent government. "He believed we must hold our public officials accountable," Brumby, III said. He is heir to the Brumby media dynasty which includes a string of neighborhood newspapers.

Brumby knew that media lives on advertising more than public opinion and story writing.  According to Conrad C. Fink's book, "Strategic Newspaper Management," Brumby's newspapers concentrate on limited local news, have a circulation of 416,403, and devote 75% of total content to ads. Fink claimed that in 1983, profits were $20 million.  Local PATCH, run by AOL, took a bite from his bottom line over the last two years.

While Brumby rests in peace, though, his paper continues on its journalistic mission.
 

Attorney Yolanda Smith-Williams, Thomas Carter, and Attorney Joyette M. Holmes posed outside church.

After the service, a host of politicians and business people lingered.  They talked economics and politics. The presses are still rolling in Brumby's town. "Let's try to be worthy of what he left us," Matthews concluded.

Scene outside church after ceremony

Mourners leave church.

There were no seats to be had at the packed 11 a.m. service except in the empty choir loft. There was no body, no coffin at the service, no portrait on an easel, no food for the public afterwards. Some surmised that Brumby, remembered as a humble yet powerful man, was already buried in a tiny cemetery near Marietta and that his family had been escorted to the service by Marietta police. His widow, Martha Lee, exited down the center aisle smiling, motioning to family and friends.

Perry (r) is member of local ministerial group.

There were only three ministers in the pulpit. One black minister, Perry Price, said protocol was not followed when he was asked to sit in the balcony, but he refused.

Even Brumby's goodbyes were not without incident which was fitting for a man whose business was news.
 

©2012 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.