* Edward S. Skillin; Editor, Publisher of the Catholic Magazine Commonweal

Edward S. Skillin, 96, who served as either the editor or publisher of Commonweal, an independent lay magazine of Roman Catholic opinion, from 1938 until his retirement in 1998. A native New Yorker, Skillen earned his bachelor’s degree from Williams College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He worked in the promotional department of the publishing firm Henry Holt & Co. before moving into sales and editing. He received a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 1933, the same year he joined the staff of Commonweal. The magazine, a Manhattan-based liberal journal covering religion, politics, literature and culture, took strong stands on controversial topics. It opposed the government of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, the dropping of atom bombs on Japan, the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950s led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and, in later years, U.S. involvement in Vietnam. On Monday in Montclair, N.J.