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Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame

John C. Taylor

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John C. Taylor

The Seguin Gazette

Hall of Fame Class of 2018

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, John C. Taylor of Gonzales graduated from then-Southwest Texas State College with a degree in journalism.

He joined the San Antonio Light as a reporter and left in 1954 to purchase the Seguin Gazette, which he owned until 1979. He served as president of South Texas Press Association in 1963-64 and president of Texas Gulf Coast Press Association in 1974.

Taylor was in his 21st year as publisher of the Seguin Gazette when he became the 98th president of the Texas Press Association in 1975. He had served as vice chair of the association’s building committee, assisting in the search for the property at Fifth Street and West Avenue in downtown Austin that became TPA headquarters in 1971.

While in Seguin, Taylor expanded the newspaper into Trans-Texas Publishing Company, the first central printing plant south of the Dallas area, an operation that printed more than 30 newspapers.

Taylor was a longtime director of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, serving 21 years under appointment of four governors ending with Ann Richards. He was also a member of the St. Mary’s University Board of Governors and many local civil clubs.

Taylor died at age 88 in 2014.