Grier, former publisher, dies
Led Times Union; Hearst executive
Former Times Union publisher and Hearst newspaper group division head J. Roger Grier, 87, died Thursday at his home in Plymouth, Wis.
Though Grier had suffered from chronic neuropathy in recent years and spent the past seven months in hospice, the determined cause of death was COVID -19. His wife of 46 years, Barbara, also contracted the illness but has recovered.
A Minnesota native, Grier served in the Army during the Korean War and was a 20-year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard. He attended the University of Minnesota and graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in business administration.
Grier’s newspaper career began in Minnesota at the Bemidji Pioneer and the Duluth News Tribune & Herald. He served as publisher at the Trenton (N.J.) Times before taking the top job for Albany’s Capital Newspaper Group in February 1977 — a year commemorated on the license plate of his Cadillac: “CNG 77.”
The following year, Grier recruited Harry Rosenfeld, a Washington Post assistant managing editor, to serve as editor in chief of the dual operations of the Times Union and the Knickerbocker News.
Rosenfeld said Grier’s strength of character was a strong motivator in his decision to come to Albany. “I respected him as publisher for his outrages — I mean the ones against the politicians at all levels who were ripping the public off,” Rosenfeld said. “Just my kind of boss.”
In 1980, Grier was promoted to vice president and group executive for newspapers of the Hearst Corp. During his time in that role, the corporation acquired the Houston Chronicle.
“Roger was a fair-minded but tough, communityengaged publisher that always backed his team of talented journalists,” said Times Union Publisher and CEO George R. Hearst III. “He provided superb leadership not only while in Albany, but afterwards to the Hearst newspaper company across the nation. A real class act; his friendship will be missed.”
Frank Bennack, Hearst’s executive vice chairman and former president and CEO, called Grier “an extraordinarily talented newspaper executive” who “was greatly admired by both those who worked for him and his corporate superiors. ... He left a lasting imprint by virtue of his upbeat and collaborative style. If he ever had a bad day, it certainly wasn’t evident to me.”
After his retirement from Hearst in 1992, Grier moved to Wisconsin and served as a newspaper management consultant. Through the nonprofit Freedom Forum, he traveled extensively through Eastern Europe advising newspapers in nations such as Poland and Latvia just emerging from communism. He also served on the boards of several family-owned U.S. newspapers.
In addition to his wife, Grier is survived by five children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.