Dean Lesher
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Dean Stanley Lesher (August 4, 1902 - May 13, 1993) was an American newspaper publisher, most notable as the founder of the Contra Costa Times and the Contra Costa Newspapers chain. He was also a well-known philanthropist in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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[edit] Early life
Lesher was born August 4, 1902, the son of Margaret and David Lesher, in Williamsport, Maryland. His first "business" experience began with his opening of a small ice cream stand at the age of 10. When he was 12, he gave that up for a job in a local tannery; his father was a significant stakeholder in that operation, but opted to let Lesher learn the value of labor. In his high school years, Lesher found work as a railroad waybill clerk, and kept active in sports, playing football, baseball, and soccer.
Lesher attended the University of Maryland, graduating magna cum laude, and proceeded on to earn a law degree from Harvard University.
[edit] Newspapers
Though he set up a successful legal practice in Kansas City, Missouri, Lesher grew bored with law, and found himself fascinated with newspapers, and especially in their ability to shape and improve a community. Initially, he acquired a small paper in Nebraska, but found no way to generate a profit.
In 1941, at the age of 39, Lesher and his family moved to California, where he purchased a small daily, the Merced Sun-Star. While the local economy was booming, with the war effort, civilian rationing meant empty store shelves, meant little to no advertising revenues. Lesher resorted to using his own charms by taking some of the area's most prominent business owners to dinner, and asking all of them to advertise for the sake of the area paper. As a result, the paper's position was solidified.
After the war, Lesher grew to seek other opportunities, and found them in Contra Costa County. Shortly after buying the Walnut Creek Journal-Courier in 1947, he renamed it the Contra Costa Times, with regards to its growing primacy in the region. Over time, he purchased a series of other papers in the region, and pioneered a series of new subscription tactics, including both "controlled circulation," and a gradual shift from free weekly to paid daily papers.
Lesher's wife, Kathryn, died of cancer in 1971. He later remarried, to Margaret Lesher.
In 1977, the California Press Association awarded Lesher their Publisher of the Year award. President Ronald Reagan presented Lesher with the highest award of the National Newspaper Association, in 1983, for distinguished leadership.
In 1995, Lesher's heirs sold the Contra Costa Times to Knight-Ridder for $365 million.
[edit] Legacy
Firmly committed to the ideals of community and education, Lesher was known for his generous donations of both time and money. He served on the Board of Governors of the California Community College System, and as a trustee of the California State University System, St. Mary's College, and John F. Kennedy University. His mark should be familiar in the Dean and Kathryn Lesher Library at Merced Junior College, the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, and the Margaret Lesher Student Union Building of Diablo Valley College.
The Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, established in 1989, continues to be administered by Lesher's heirs, and grants hundreds of thousands of dollars for community improvement and educational scholarships every year.
