Former Mail Tribune editor dies

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Former Mail Tribune editor Earl Adams, 81, died Monday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Adams worked at the paper for 37 years, serving as a reporter, city editor, managing editor and associate editor.

Adams was born in Northampton, Mass., in 1927. He served in the Navy, then attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism and worked at the Columbia Daily Tribune there.

He started as a reporter at the Mail Tribune in 1955. He later became the city editor and, in 1968, was named managing editor. He became associate editor in 1982 and was a leader in bringing computers into the newsroom, newspaper archives show.

"He was a good administrator, a gentle person and a good boss," said Cleve Twitchell, a former Mail Tribune staffer who came to the paper in 1961 and retired in 2002, working for many years alongside Adams.

Twitchell recalled Adams' calm presence when big news broke on deadline, such as when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in October 1973 and when President Ronald Reagan was shot in March 1981.

"He was a good influence when we were under deadline pressure," Twitchell said.

Adams and his wife, Virginia, raised two sons — Greg and Alvin — in Medford, and the family was involved in a variety of youth activities. Adams also was remembered as an accomplished chef.

After retiring from the paper in December 1992, Adams took up painting, focusing on landscapes of Southern Oregon, including Crater Lake, his son Greg Adams said.

Adams is survived by his wife, who still lives in Medford; two sons and three granddaughters, all of Vancouver, Wash.; and three sisters in Massachusetts.

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