Manning, San Clemente Daily Sun/Post Publisher, Dies at 79

R. Stanford Manning, publisher of the San Clemente Daily Sun/Post for 20 years, died Wednesday while awaiting heart bypass surgery. He was 79.

Manning was one of few journalists invited to meet President Richard M. Nixon at the Western White House helicopter pad after Nixon resigned in 1974.

He also was a recipient of the Sky Dunlap Award, given annually by the Orange County Press Club for a longtime commitment and service to the community by one of its members.

“To let you know how involved he was, he also was an actor and director in the Cabrillo Playhouse in San Clemente,” said Warren Esterline, who was an editor under Manning for 12 years. “If you put out a Stan Manning play, people would turn out. One of his sayings was: ‘Just because it’s community theater, it doesn’t mean it has to be bush.’ ”

Manning was born in San Francisco and grew up in San Diego. He and his wife, Pat, owned the weekly Carlsbad Journal until the late 1970s, when they sold it and moved to southern Orange County, buying an interest in the Sun/Post.

Manning published the Sun/Post until 1993, when the Orange County Register bought the newspaper. He became publisher emeritus and continued to write a column.

Manning is survived by his wife; sons Brien and Kevin, both of Orange County; daughter Erin Saunders of Long Beach; and three grandchildren.

Manning had requested that no funeral service be held. Relatives said he will be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.