W. H. Cowles III; Spokane Newspaper Publisher

William H. Cowles III, president and publisher of the two Spokane daily newspapers, died after suffering a heart attack while jogging near his home.

Cowles, 60, was publisher of the Spokane Chronicle and Spokesman-Review. He was taken to Spokane’s Sacred Heart Medical Center where he was pronounced dead after being stricken on Saturday.

Industry executives remembered the soft-spoken, third-generation publisher Sunday as a man who was as devoted to the newspaper profession as he was to readers and employees.

“Bill had a quiet style but he was driven by a passion for good journalism and by a willingness to make the sacrifices that it demanded,” said Louis D. Boccardi, president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press.

“His mind was always on the next mountaintop to be scaled, and he led you there with unfailing grace and good humor,” Boccardi said.

Robert F. Erburu, chairman and chief executive officer of Times Mirror Co. and chairman of the American Newspaper Publishers Assn., called Cowles “an outstanding leader whose many contributions to the newspaper industry were much admired. He will be sorely missed by his countless friends.”

Since 1983, the morning Spokesman-Review and afternoon Chronicle have shared an editorial staff. The Cowles Publishing Co. also includes Northwest Farmer-Stockman magazines, the Inland Empire Paper Co., KHQ television station in Spokane and Pinnacle Productions International.

On Thursday, Cowles and his senior managers had met with employees in the newspapers’ headquarters and bureaus to go over his plans to enhance the dailies, whose Sunday circulation is 150,000 and daily combined circulation is 123,000.

Plans included improving suburban coverage, using only recycled newsprint, upgrading employee medical and retirement benefits, and extending a telephone information service to the northern Idaho city of Coeur d’Alene, 30 miles east of Spokane.

Cowles was born March 4, 1932. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1953 and a law degree from Harvard University in 1959. He served in the Naval Reserve from 1953 to 1956.

The first W. H. Cowles moved to Spokane from Chicago in 1891. In 1893, he bought the Spokane Review, which was renamed the Spokesman-Review. In 1897, he bought the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

William H. Cowles III became publisher 22 years ago, succeeding his father and grandfather.

Cowles is survived by his wife, Allison Stacey Cowles; a daughter, Seattle attorney Elizabeth A. Cowles; a son, William Stacey Cowles, the newspapers’ advertising manager; a brother, James P. Cowles, the company’s vice president, and sisters Agnes Cowles Bourne of San Francisco and Peggy Cowles of New York City.