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Al Neuharth was born in Eureka, South Dakota, on March 22, 1924. Mr. Neuharth was the grandson of homesteaders and grew up on a rural farm. He had lost his father at a young age and helped the family by working for his Grandfather and delivering newspapers. The news had long fascinated Neuharth. As a teenager, he wrote for his high school newspaper, and in college, he was Editor of the University of South Dakota-Vermillion newspaper. From there he took his love for news and made it a career, working for such newspapers as the Miami Herald and the Detroit Free Press. Mr. Neuharth would eventually garner fame with the founding of USA Today. USA Today launched in 1982 and is the most widely read newspaper in the United States. Though Neuharth retired in 1989, he continued to write for USA Today for the last quarter century. Neuharth founded the Freedom Forum in 1991 and its Newseum, an interactive news and journalism museum in Washington, D.C, in 1997. Additionally, the Freedom Forum annually honors journalists with the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, and high school graduates can be honored with the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholorship. He never forgot his homesteading roots and was honored to be featured on a banner to commemorate the legacy of homesteading. Neuharth passed away on April 19, 2013 at his home in Cocoa Beach, Florida at the age of 89. |
Last updated: August 2, 2021