Roy Robinson

Graham Leader

Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Regarded as an innovator, mentor and problem-solver, Roy Robinson is often sought out by fellow Texas newspaper publishers for counsel and advice. He grew up in the back shop of his father’s Goodland Daily News in northwest Kansas, officially entering the newspaper business at 21 as city editor of The Lamar (Colo.) Tri-State Daily News. Since then he has worked through the many challenges the owner of a small rural newspaper can face.

An outstanding newspaper publisher who has distinguished himself in Texas, Colorado and beyond as a member of the National Newspaper Association, Roy Robinson was elected in 1972 as president of Colorado Press Association and was later awarded honorary life membership recognition by CPA.

He served as president of two regional newspaper organizations, the West Texas Press Association in 2004-05 and the North & East Texas Press Association in 2007-08. In June 2008, he was elected president of the statewide Texas Press Association. He received WTPA’s prestigious Harold Hudson Award in 2006 and NETPA’s exemplary Sam C. Holloway Award in 2005 and Tom Mooney Memorial Award in 2006.

A member of the Texas Newspaper Foundation from 2005 until June 2011, Robinson was the guiding force behind the creation of the foundation’s Hall of Fame. He has been a leader in every community he has served, from Woodland Park, Colorado’s home rule charter commission to his role as president of the Methodist Sunday school class in Graham, Texas. His service with senior citizen centers, museums, art centers and chambers of commerce is extensive, and he served as a member of the Selective Service Board before the military draft ended.

Robinson and his wife, Carol Lee, purchased the Ute Pass Courier in Woodland Park, Colo., in 1966. He also edited the Cripple Creek (Colo.) Gold Rush from 1965 to 1978. Robinson published the Eagle Valley (Colo.) Enterprise, then the Westminster Window and Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel in suburban Denver before joining MediaNews Group in January 1997 as publisher of the Fort Morgan (Colo.) Times.

Robinson came to Texas in 1998 as vice president of Graham Newspapers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaNews Group. He served as publisher of The Graham Leader, the Breckenridge American, Jack County Herald, Jacksboro Gazette-News, Lake Country Sun and The Olney Enterprise. He also was responsible for the company’s four radio stations, KWKQ-FM and KSWA-AM in Graham and KLXK-FM and KROO-AM in Breckenridge.

On Jan. 31, 2009, Graham Newspapers Inc. purchased the Star Group newspapers: Burleson Star, Alvarado Star, Crowley Star, Joshua Star, Keene Star and South Tarrant Star in Everman.

Robinson has been active for more than three decades on National Newspaper Association committees and as a judge for NNA’s annual better newspaper contest. He completed the NNA Publishers’ Boot Camp in 1997.

He is a member of the Rotary Club in Graham and was charter chairman of the Graham Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board. He is a past Exalted Ruler in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His personal honors include a citation for meritorious valor at Soldiers Memorial Park in Sherman County, Kan., in 1956; Citizen of the Year in Woodland Park, Colo., in 1972; honorary life member of the Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce, in 1978; and Citizen of the Year in Eagle, Colo., in 1988.

After a lifetime of service in the newspaper industry, Robinson retired on Nov. 25, 2011, his 72nd birthday.

He was inducted into the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport Hotel in 2012 as one of four members of the Hall’s sixth class of honorees.