Latest News, Newspaper Industry News

Former Parkersburg News editor Robert Robinson dies at 70

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

PARKERSBURG, W.Va.  — A former editor of The Parkersburg News passed away on Saturday. He was 70.

Robert Glen “Bob” Robinson Jr., editor of The News from 1985 to 1989, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for a breaking story about the collapse of the cooling tower at Willow Island. Fifty-one men died in the accident where his father, Robert Glen Robinson, was a survivor.

Robert Glen Robinson Jr.

A 1969 graduate with a bachelor’s of science in journalism from Ohio University, he worked for several newspapers and was assigned to the West Virginia bureau of Associated Press from 1973-1982. He graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1965.

Robinson was a deputy national editor for the Washington Times before returning to Parkersburg as editor of The News and was a reporter and editor for the Market News Service in Washington, D.C., after leaving The News.

He returned to the Washington Times in 1999 as an assistant national editor until he retired in 2000. Robinson came out of retirement in 2002-2003 and worked at the Warren (Ohio) Tribune Chronicle.

Among survivors are his daughter, Kristina Robinson, of Hagerstown, Md.; son, Dr. Peter Robinson and wife, Katherine, of West Hartford, Conn.; son, Phillip Robinson of Hagerstown, Md.; and son, Paul Robinson of Raleigh, N.C.

A memorial service will be held 1 p.m. Saturday at Rest Haven Funeral Home in Hagerstown, Md.

See more from The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

And get our latest content in your inbox

Invalid email address