Shelby Coffey Becomes The Times’ 8th Editor : Veteran Newsman, Magazine Executive Succeeds Bill Thomas

Shelby Coffey III today became the eighth editor in the Los Angeles Times’ 107-year history, succeeding William F. Thomas, who retired after more than 17 years in the post.

Coffey, 42, joined The Times in 1986 as deputy associate editor. Last April, Times Publisher Tom Johnson named him executive editor, putting him in line to succeed Thomas.

After graduation from the University of Virginia in 1968, Coffey began a 17-year career at the Washington Post, initially as a sportswriter. At 25, he was appointed editor of the paper’s Sunday magazine and, four years later, in 1976, editor of the paper’s Style section. He later was named a deputy managing editor of the paper.

Became Editor of Magazine

In 1984, Coffey took charge of the Post’s national news department, but in March, 1985, he left to become editor of U.S. News & World Report. Less than a year later, he was named editor of the Dallas Times Herald, which then was owned by the Times Mirror Co., publisher of The Times. He joined The Times when Times Mirror sold the Dallas paper seven months later.

As editor, Coffey said, he will work to continue The Times’ tradition of “astute innovation, by giving readers comprehensive news coverage with our share of exclusives, and by emphasizing fine writing and the analytical imperative--the elements of how and why” behind the news.

“We will continue to give broad national and international coverage and to intensify our strong local coverage in Southern California.

“Because of several forces at work in Southern California--its position as a capital of the Pacific Rim, with its ports and culture and high technology and its booming economy--I think the region will be looked upon 100 years from now in much the same way we look back on 18th-Century London: as a unique, inventive center of civilization.”

Times Publisher Johnson said: “I am confident that Shelby Coffey will lead The Times to new heights of editorial excellence. He has vision, creativity, energy, solid news judgment, wide-ranging interests and is one of the most literate, intelligent people I have ever met.”

Coffey’s wife, Dr. Mary Lee Coffey, is an emergency room physician at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. They have two children, Alison, 18, and Charles, 14.

Saw Doubling of Staff

During his nearly two decades in The Times’ top editorial post, Thomas, 64, oversaw a doubling of the newspaper’s editorial staff to 1,206. At the same time, the paper’s annual news budget grew by 600% to $86.5 million.

Thomas was involved with more than half the 16 Pulitzer Prizes The Times has won. While metropolitan editor he personally directed two Pulitzer-winning projects, and during his editorship The Times was awarded nine more.

During his editorship, the paper added six new foreign bureaus and five new national domestic bureaus. It created a separate daily Calendar section, a separate daily Business section, a book review section and a new Sunday magazine. Thomas also directed the launching of separate editions in San Diego and the San Fernando Valley and greatly expanded the edition in Orange County.

Otis Chandler, former publisher of The Times and now chairman of Times Mirror’s executive committee, appointed Thomas to his post and appraised his tenure this way: “He became the best editor in the country.”