Harry Ayers

The son of a missionary to China, Harry Ayers successfully managed a gubernatorial campaign, served on the state board of education, received the army's second highest decoration awarded to civilians, and was offered the ambassadorship to Denmark by President Truman.

Most importantly, he published a local newspaper that was truly a window on the world.

Today The Anniston Star is regarded as one of the nation's most innovative and provocative small-town daily newspapers. With its national reputation, the Star is a training ground where many of the country's brightest journalists get their first jobs.

Ayers grew up in the offices of his family's newspaper, and upon graduation from high school, he accepted a job at the Anniston Evening Star. He was soon fired - he freelanced so much he made more money than the editor. Eventually he purchased two Anniston papers and began a career as an editor and a publisher that would last more than fifty years.

After his death, his son, H. Brandt Ayers, said in testimonial to his father, "He was daringly ahead of his time as an advocate of more equitable race relations. He was an internationalist . . . above all he was a man who could handle the intoxicating stuff of power. He used power lightly, not as an offensive weapon, but more as a shield."

"A newspaper must be the attorney for the most defenseless among its subscribers," Harry M. Ayers wrote, and this principle guided him throughout his journalism career. This philosophy also distinguished him from his competitors. Because he never wavered, or backed down from a fight, or needlessly provoked one, his newspaper, still family-owned, continues to thrive, continues to speak with authority and passion, and continues to educate its readers about their world.