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Former Jacksonville Daily News editor Madison Taylor dies at 62

“An intrepid journalist and editor-in-chief.”

Former Jacksonville Daily News city editor Andrew deGrandpre, now a Washington Post editor, recalls the man who hired him for the Jacksonville newspaper – Madison Taylor, a former Daily News editor, who was last week at Died 62 years.

“Without the opportunities Madison gave me while I was on The Daily News, I don’t think I would really have made it to Washington,” said deGrandpre. “I’ll be forever grateful to him for taking a risk and really showing me how to do it.”

deGrandpre also remembers Taylor for his “sixth sense of understanding his audience” and as “a truly exceptional journalist and a great voice and advocate for his community”.

“I think he just helped people really find themselves and become better people,” said deGrandpre. “He was just a compassionate and understanding newsroom manager … a great person who cared very much for the people who worked for him.”

Taylor, who was editor-in-chief of The Daily News from 1992 to 2007, spent more than three decades in the newspaper industry until joining Elon University as a development writer in 2017.

Prior to joining The Daily News, where he headed more than two dozen newsroom staff, Taylor was a sports journalist, city editor, and assistant editor-in-chief for the Burlington Times-News. In 2007 he returned to the Burlington newspaper as editor-in-chief.

In 2003, Taylor hired current Daily News sports reporter, Chris Miller, who remembers Taylor as an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan.

“Madison was tough, but fair,” said Miller. “He expected a lot of reporters but always supported them. He was a great writer too. Lots of people liked his editorials. ”

In a public post on Facebook, Elliot Potter, former editor and editor of the Daily News, said that many people will remember Taylor “for his impressive and lasting contributions to the Jacksonville newspaper and our community during his many years as senior editor.” .

“Madison was so much more than a wonderful journalist and a gifted writer,” wrote Potter. “He was a loving husband, a valued brother and son, a rock-solid friend, a valued mentor, and just a great guy to talk to.”

Taylor’s obituary said he was working to ensure “the free exchange of accurate and fair information”.

More: Friends, colleagues remember Madison Taylor

“Most of all, he was an honest journalist who believed in the public’s right to know the truth, but he was always conscious of minimizing the damage – an ethic that he shared with the many reporters and editors who worked with him worked together, mediated, ”says the obituary.

In a letter to faculty and staff, Elon President Connie Ledoux Book recalled Taylor as “an active member of the university community” who “saw each day as a new opportunity to connect with people across the university.

“Over the past five years he has written numerous donor impact reports that tell the story of the power of philanthropy and how new programs and facilities support academic success,” Book wrote. “He has highlighted the achievements of alumni, faculty, staff and students in articles for Today at Elon, the university’s news site and Elon magazine.”

Taylor’s survivors include his Burlington wife, Roselee Papandrea Taylor.

Taylor died at Duke University Hospital after a recent diagnosis of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, according to a public Facebook post by his wife.

Reporter Calvin Shomaker can be reached at [email protected].

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