Publishing Icon Charles Scripps

Charles E. Scripps, 87, longtime board chairman of Cincinnati-based media company E.W. Scripps Co., died Feb. 3 near his home in Naples, Fla. No cause of death was reported.

His grandfather, Edward W. Scripps, started the company in 1878. Charles Scripps served as chairman from 1953 to 1994 and retired from the board in 2003.

During Charles Scripps's tenure, the company began to expand beyond its newspaper roots into broadcasting. Today, E.W. Scripps publishes newspapers such as the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, and owns cable channels such as Home and Garden Television and the Food Network, as well as Web sites such as Shopzilla.

Mr. Scripps was born in San Diego and attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg before returning to California to enter Pomona College.

He enlisted with the Coast Guard during World War II and rose to the rank of lieutenant before returning to the family business after the war.

He began his newspaper career at his grandfather's first paper, the Cleveland Press, where he reported on police and courts. He took over the family trust at age 28.