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Leroy F. Aarons 1933-2004 Services for Leroy F. Aarons – who led the Oakland Tribune to a Pulitzer Prize in l989 for reporting on the Loma Prieta earthquake, cofounded the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, and was the founder and first president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association – will be held Dec. 4, 2 p.m., at the Center for Spiritual Living, 2075 Occidental Rd., Santa Rosa. He was being treated for bladder cancer at a Santa Rosa hospital when his heart failed Nov. 28. Aarons was a talented and creative journalist at papers including the Washington Post and the Oakland Tribune, but his most memorable moment came in 1990 when he made the news after reporting at a convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors on the results of the first-ever newsroom survey of gay men and women. He concluded by saying, "I, as an editor and gay man, am proud of ASNE for having done this study." This was Aarons first public announcement that he was gay. The study and his remarks were shots heard around the country, inside and outside the media. Four months after his speech he met with six newspeople in his Piedmont house to found the first gay journalists' association. It's now based in Washington, D.C., has grown to l,200 members in 24 chapters, and is recognized as a major force in journalism. Aarons is survived by Joshua Boneh, his partner of 24 years, and his brother, Ronald Aarons of Boulder, Colo. Please see this page for remembrances of Aarons from his classmates and colleagues.(Bruce B. Brugmann) Links to Leroy Aarons obituaries in other publications: |
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