Scott Newhall (January 21, 1914 – October 26, 1992) was a newspaper editor known for his stewardship of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''.

Early life

Scott Newhall was born on January 21, 1914, into the family that owned the Newhall Land and Farming Company. He grew up in San Rafael,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, attending Tamalpais School for Boys,

Tamalpais High School Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley. Tamalpais High Scho ...

, San Rafael Military Academy, and the

Webb School of California The Webb Schools (now often simply "Webb") are private schools for grades 9–12 located in Claremont, California. Up until 2022, it was separated into The Webb School of California for boys (established in 1922) and the Vivian Webb School for g ...

for boys. In 1933, in the midst of his sophomore year at

U.C. Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

, he married Ruth Waldo.

Newspaper career

In 1934, Newhall joined the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' as a photographer. By 1952—when the ''Chronicle''s circulation was 155,000, languishing behind those of the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'' and the ''

San Francisco Call-Bulletin ''The San Francisco Call'' was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called ''The San Francisco Call & Post'', the ''San Francisco Call-Bulleti ...

''—he was promoted from Sunday editor to executive editor, with the goal of increasing circulation, a goal he achieved by enhancing serious news coverage leavened with zany features and a stable of columnists that included "

Dear Abby ''Dear Abby'' is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. History According to Pau ...

", Arthur Hoppe,

Stanton Delaplane Stanton Hill ("Stan") Delaplane (12 October 1907 – 18 April 1988) was an American travel writer, credited with introducing Irish coffee to the United States. Called "last of the old irreplaceables" by fellow-columnist Herb Caen, he worked for ...

, Charles McCabe, "Count Marco", and

Herb Caen Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily columnist, column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuo ...

. By 1965, the ''Chronicle'' had surpassed the competition, with a daily circulation of over 363,000. He left the paper in 1971. In 1963, he purchased '' The Newhall Signal'', which he sold in 1978, but continued to edit until 1988. In 2012, he was inducted into the California Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Anguilla Liberty Dollars

Following the July 1967

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of the Caribbean Island of

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

, Newhall, who had covered the event, used the hydraulic presses in the basement of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' to create 11,600 silver dollar-size counterstamped coins bearing the legend "ANGUILLA LIBERTY DOLLAR" encircling the center legend "JULY 11 1967". He offered the new government of Anguilla the opportunity to use his coins for currency. However, the offer was rejected.

Paddlewheel tug ''Eppleton Hall''

In 1970, Newhall purchased, refurbished, and sailed from England to San Francisco the 1914

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

paddlewheel tug '' Eppleton Hall'', which was donated to the

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. Formerly referred to ...

1971 San Francisco mayoral campaign

In 1971, Newhall campaigned to become

mayor of San Francisco The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the Government of San Francisco, San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either appro ...

. He came in 5th place, getting 8,704 votes, or 3.44% of total votes cast.

Personal life and death

Newhall's wife Ruth also worked at the ''Chronicle'' and later became editor of ''The Newhall Signal''. Their son Jon Newhall also became a journalist, first working for ''The Signal'', then ''Earth'' magazine, and finally founding Zodiac News Service in San Francisco. On October 26, 1992, Newhall died at

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (commonly referred to as Henry Mayo Hospital) is a 357-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California Valencia is a neighborhood in Santa Clarita located within ...

, which was named after his great-grandfather. He had been suffering from acute

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...

. He was 78 years of age.

Citations

Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Newhall memorial reported in 1992 ''Los Angeles Times''

Ruth Newhall 2003 obituary in ''San Francisco Chronicle''

Dolly Rhee 2003 obituary in ''San Francisco Chronicle''

Hartlaub on the anti-swill campaign in 2013 ''San Francisco Chronicle''

Changing Times – 2015 ''San Francisco Chronicle''

2016 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' story on "Swill" headline
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newhall, Scott 1914 births 1992 deaths Editors of California newspapers Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park People from San Rafael, California Writers from Berkeley, California Tamalpais High School alumni