The former publisher of the Danbury News-Times, Forrest Palmer, has died. He began his newspaper career working at the Waterbury Republican-American; he then became an editor at the News-Times of Danbury and ultimately its publisher.
Bill Seymour was a reporter at the News-Times in the early 80s and offered this remembrance:
His commitment – and desire to pay for lawyers to help the cause — made him one of the early FOI advocates who helped define in its early days interpretations of the law journalists and the public have today. He was among those publishers and editors — Leeney from New Haven, McGinley from New London, Eddy and successors from Hartford and Pape (father of current) from Waterbury – who took those laws very seriously and their intended purpose. He gave the freedom to Steve Collins — the guy whose name is on the SPJ award annually — the berth to work extensively also to define it.
