John M. "Jack" Lemmon, a veteran newspaperman who was the managing editor of The Evening Sun from 1979 to 1991, died of a heart attack yesterday morning at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The longtime Towson resident was 80.
Mr. Lemmon, whose newspaper career spanned four decades, was born and raised in Mount Pleasant, Ill., the son of a businessman who admired H.L. Mencken and introduced his young son to the famed Baltimore newspaperman's journalism.
After stints as a journalism professor and editing jobs at The Washington Star and The Washington Post, Mr. Lemmon was hired to run The Evening Sun, where decades earlier Mr. Mencken had earned his fame as a reporter and columnist.
During Mr. Lemmon's tenure, The Evening Sun received numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Lemmon was hired by then-publisher Donald H. Patterson and remained a steadfast advocate of afternoon newspapers until the end of his career.
"The death of evening papers is more in the nature of a self-fulfilling prophecy," Mr. Lemmon said in 1995 when The Evening Sun ceased publication, a victim of declining circulation and revenue.
Mr. Lemmon was remembered by staffers as being tough but fair. Outwardly, he projected a friendly demeanor, but he retained the skepticism of a hardened newsman.
"Jack was an old-fashioned newspaperman: fighting for his paper against other sheets, anxious for reporters to embarrass politicians, ornery when dealing with the company budget people, slow to accept crazy ideas - like his secondhand smoke was dangerous - a stranger to self-promotion, skeptical about the alleged holy mission of journalism (`Let's get the paper out on time') and a good fellow to be around," said Ernest F. Imhoff yesterday, who succeeded Mr. Lemmon at his 1991 retirement.
Mr. Lemmon also had a sense of humor.
Mr. Imhoff recalled a conversation with Mr. Lemmon several years ago, during which his old colleague said, "My dad was a confirmed Democrat. He used to buy the Chicago Tribune once a month just to see how mad he could get in 15 minutes."
Mr. Lemmon bore a strong resemblance, both physically and temperamentally, to actor Ed Asner, who played an editor in two 1970s and 1980s TV hits, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later Lou Grant.
The men, who both exhibited a certain gruffness - either feigned or real, had the pleasure of meeting each other in the city room one day and being photographed together.
