SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) - Bill Mardis, the longtime editor of the Commonwealth Journal newspaper in Somerset, Kentucky, has died. He was 89.
Mardis died Tuesday at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, according to Southern Oaks Funeral Home.
Mardis, a Navy veteran who served during the Korean conflict, was recruited to work at the Commonwealth Journal in 1964 by then-publisher George Joplin III and was still working part-time as editor emeritus when he died, the newspaper reported.
Along with being the newspaper’s longtime editor, Mardis was known regionally as the “Humble Reporter,” after a column he wrote.
“Bill had an amazing ability to connect with others,” Joplin’s daughter, Jane Joplin Evans, told the newspaper. “Community news was the biggest thing Bill understood. He and my dad were committed to that their entire lives. … He was always aware of what needed to be covered and made sure that it was.”
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell praised the way Mardis covered Pulaski County for nearly 60 years.
“He was the consummate community journalist, prizing truth and integrity over sensation and spin. Those qualities endeared him to his loyal readers and his scores of friends. I was proud to count myself among both,” McConnell said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers said he also counted Mardis as a friend, though that didn’t keep the editor from asking him tough questions.
“He was a dearly loved, iconic member of this community and his life’s work kept all of us more informed,” Rogers said. “I will miss reading his work.”
Mardis is survived by his wife, Linda, two sons and three grandchildren.
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