This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 20, 2011 - Howard "Tim" Hays, who was at the helm of a California newspaper when it won a Pulitzer Prize for a series exposing corruption in the courts and who took two First Amendment cases to the U.S. Supreme Court and won, died Oct. 14 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Mr. Hays, 94, had been editor, publisher and owner of the Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif., before retiring to St. Louis, where he continued to remain active in civic affairs for many years. Over the past 20 years, he and his wife, Susan Gudermuth Hays, lived in a home in the Tower Grove Heights neighborhood that the two had renovated.
In recent years, Mr. Hays had suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
No services are currently planned.
Righting A Wrong
Under Mr. Hays' leadership, in 1967 the Press-Enterprise launched an investigation of the handling by court officers of property belonging to a Native American tribe.
For a year, the newspaper published an average of a story or editorial every three days exposing how judges and attorneys had been using their positions as trustees to charge exorbitant fees to the estates of the Agua Caliente Indians of Palm Springs.
The primary investigative reporter for the series was George Ringwald, a St. Louis native who died in 2005.
During the heavy coverage, Mr. Hays was threatened with arrest by one of the judges being investigated. He stood firm and the judge relented.
The series won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for meritorious service, and the articles led to a change in the laws governing administration of the Indian estates.
In remembering Mr. Hays, a Press-Enterprise editorial on Oct. 18 said: "That work showed his willingness to withstand public pressure and confrontation in order to pursue solid journalism: Behind the courtly, reserved manner was a steely resolve and a strong sense of moral right."
Gudermuth Hays recalled that she had to learn from others that her husband had received journalism's highest honor. His focus was elsewhere.
"He took great pride that he put out a good newspaper every day," she said.
Taking A Stand
Nearly two decades later, Mr. Hays took his beliefs about public access to criminal proceedings all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.
After a California court closed all but three days of six weeks of jury selection in a high-profile murder case, Mr. Hays fought for more openness in the process. Two Supreme Court First Amendment rulings, dubbed Press Enterprise I and Press Enterprise II, lifted the veil.
In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the public has a qualified right to attend and monitor the jury selection process. In 1986, the Court ruled 7-2 that the public has a right to attend pretrial hearings.
In a 2006 Press-Enterprise story, Washington Post Co. CEO and Chairman Donald E. Graham called Mr. Hays "one of the great, principled editors of his generation ... one of his generation's foremost advocates of the First Amendment."
As recently as 2010, in Presley vs. Georgia, the high court reaffirmed the public's presumptive right to attend jury selection, citing Press Enterprise I.
A Taste For Journalism
Howard H. "Tim" Hays was born June 2, 1917, in Chicago. It took his parents, Howard H. Hays Sr. and Margaret Mauger Hays, weeks to decide on the name for their firstborn, so he was called "Tim" until a decision was made and forever thereafter.
The family moved from Chicago and Mr. Hays spent his early years growing up in national parks: Yellowstone in Wyoming and Glacier in Montana, where his father ran Red Bus tours and excursions. He and his brothers would return to work there every summer until they were grown.
In 1924, the family moved to Riverside, in hopes that the climate would help his father recover from tuberculosis. He recovered and became editor and co-owner of The Press-Enterprise.
While attending Riverside Poly High School, Mr. Hays got a taste of his father's profession, editing the Spotlight newspaper, but his interest waned. He pursued a degree in social sciences from Stanford University, graduating in 1939. In 1942, he received a law degree from Harvard Law School.
During World War II, he spent several years as a special agent for the FBI. He passed the bar in 1946 but never practiced law; instead, he returned to journalism.
He became an assistant editor at the Press-Enterprise under his father, replacing him as editor three years later.
Mr. Hays added co-publisher to his title in 1965, and he became publisher in 1983. In 1988, he stepped down as publisher but remained as editor. On Jan. 1, 1992, Hays, now company chairman, gave up day-to-day direction of the newspaper.
It was the same year he married Susie Gudermuth, a "neighborhood builder," whom he'd met at Lambert Airport during a trip to St. Louis.
A Magical Charm
Mr. Hays began dividing his time between Riverside and St. Louis in 1989. He remained chairman until his family sold the newspaper in 1997 and he moved to St. Louis full-time.
He brought with him his civic and community interests, including a great love of parks.
"He knew about parks," said John Karel, director of Tower Grove Park, which sits just south of the Hays home. "Tim understood the park's potential almost immediately when he moved to St. Louis.
"There was a magical charm about the man and he quickly became a fierce spokesperson for the park."
He did more than that.
With stories fueled by memories of riding horses with members of the Blackfoot Nation at the base of Glacier National Park spurring him on, he funded Tower Grove Park's equestrian program.
Now Jimmy Joe, a Clydesdale who gives vis-a-vis and surrey rides, and Little Dixie, a butterscotch Shetland petting pony, are in year-round residence and service at the park.
"I was very touched and grateful for the level of interest he took in bringing the park back to a condition of excellence," Karel said.
It was not his first restoration project. In the '90s, Mr. Hays fought to save the historic Mission Inn, now one of Riverside's most widely recognized landmarks.
He was among prominent city leaders who worked to get a University of California campus established in Riverside. The campus opened in 1954.
In 1966, Mr. Hays established the Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture, a series of free lectures that still feature some of the most acclaimed news leaders in the nation.
In addition to a Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Hays received many other honors, including the 2003 Media Law Resource Center's William J. Brennan Jr. Defense of Freedom Award; the Edward Willis Scripps Award for Service to the First Amendment; and designation as a Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists for his lifetime contributions to the profession.
In 2007, the Press-Enterprise's new state-of-the-art building was named the Howard H. "Tim" Hays Media Center.
He had given generously of his time, serving in leadership positions with the American Society of Newspapers, Associated Press, International Press Institute American Committee, American Press Institute and the Pulitzer Prize board.
"He was wonderful man in the community and the same person in his home," Gudermuth Hays said.
Memorials for Mr. Hays would be appreciated to Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63110.
Mr. Hays was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, William Hays.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Bill Hays of Newport Beach, Calif., and Tom Hays of New York, and a brother, Dan Hays of Riverside.
Gloria Ross is the head of Okara Communications and the storywriter for AfterWords, an obituary-writing and production service.