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Robert E. Taylor Jr., 96; was Bulletin publisher
Robert E. Lee Taylor Jr., 96, of Bryn Mawr, a former publisher of the Bulletin and a longtime champion of a free press, died Thursday at his home.
Born in Norfolk, Va., and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Taylor graduated from Princeton University in 1935, and went to work for his uncle Robert McLean, then publisher of the newspaper.
Mr. Taylor worked in circulation and then joined the Navy, where he was captain of a submarine chaser in the Pacific through much of World War II.
Returning to the Bulletin, he rose quickly through the ranks on the business side. He became business manager in 1955 and general manager in 1956, and was named president in 1959 and publisher in 1964, a position he retained until 1975.
Mr. Taylor quickly established himself as an advocate for a free press at a time of great success for the Bulletin. The paper won Pulitzer Prizes in 1964 and 1965. It was the largest-circulation evening paper in the United States, well known for its slogan, "In Philadelphia, Nearly Everybody Reads the Bulletin."
In 1963, Mr. Taylor and then-city editor Earl Selby were found in contempt of court and sentenced to jail after they refused to testify, or allow their reporters to testify, before a grand jury about the Bulletin's sources on stories about corruption in city government.
"My father was a principled man, some would say stubborn. When he thought he was in the right, he would stand his ground against anybody," his son Robert said.
The case drew national attention as a test for a reporter's right to protect the identities of confidential sources. Mr. Taylor won. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the contempt findings and overturned the contempt findings, ruling that the state's so-called Shield Law allowed them to withhold the identity of their sources. That law remains in place.
His son recalled that Mr. Taylor "was always proud that he was able to stand his ground and win that."
Mr. Taylor's first wife, Leonore, died in 1986. Several years later, he married Jane Matthews Jackson, who also predeceased him.
In addition to his son, he is survived by daughters, Wendy Foulke and Leelee Stege; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Plans for a memorial service were incomplete.
Contact staff writer Emilie Lounsberry at 215-854-4828 or elounsberry@phillynews.com.
