Eugene Fuson; Journalist Helped Start Proposition 13 Movement

Eugene (Gene) H. Fuson, a crusading, award-winning journalist often credited with introducing the authors of Proposition 13 to each other, has died. He was 71.

Fuson died Friday in his Hollywood Hills home of kidney cancer, his wife, Bonnie, said Monday.

Among his efforts to create change in California was his pairing of the late Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, who created Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative that limited property taxes.

Fuson also led editorial campaigns for laws that now provide that the state ballot be written in language the average person can understand, that freeway off-ramp signs note destinations such as Disneyland or Universal Studios as well as streets and that school social studies curricula include law. In San Diego, he led the campaign to build Jack Murphy Stadium in Mission Valley.

A ninth-generation Californian descended from one of the first visitors to the San Gabriel Mission in 1775, Fuson wrote two books on state history, “The Silver Dons” and “The Glory Years,” and was co-author of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s book on the 100th anniversary of Hollywood.

Fuson retired in May from KCBS Channel 2 as editorial and special projects director after 17 years with the station. He was previously editorial director at KFWB radio.

A native of San Diego, Fuson studied journalism, history and psychology at San Diego State, photography at Art Center Los Angeles and Mexican history and Spanish at Universidad Nacional de Mexico in Mexico City. A state award-winning sousaphone player in high school, he turned down a scholarship to Juilliard School of Music because he was called into service in the Army. He played double bass in an Army dance band.

Fuson began his career with the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune, where his undercover exploits included interviewing the purged head of the Russian secret police in Spain in 1953 and masquerading as a drug addict to investigate narcotics in Tijuana.

He was later news and editorial director at KOGO Channel 10 in San Diego and did special assignments for such magazines as Time, Life, Sports Illustrated and Fortune. He came to Los Angeles to work for KTTV Channel 11.

Fuson amassed more than 60 awards, including three Golden Mikes, the Silver Gavel, the Pall Mall award and others from the Radio and Television News Directors Assn., the National Broadcast Editorial Assn., the Greater Los Angeles Press Club and the Associated Press. He was cited for his editorials by the California Legislature, the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, former Gov. Ronald Reagan and the American Freedom Foundation.

In addition to his wife, Fuson is survived by his mother, Celia Grijalva Alvardo of Lemon Grove, his brother, William Fuson of San Diego, and three stepchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Little White Church, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, and graveside services are planned for noon Wednesday at the Little Chapel of Roses, Glen Abbey, in Bonita.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the City of Hope.