Trail-Blazing LA Times Editor Dies

Jean Sharley Taylor, who for years was the only woman named on the Los Angeles Times masthead, has died. She was 91.

Taylor died Saturday under hospice care in Yorba Linda, her son, the Rev. John H. Taylor, vicar of St. John Chrystosom Episcopal Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, told the Los Angeles Times. She had Alzheimer’s disease and colorectal cancer, according to the newspaper.

Taylor retired from the Los Angeles Times as associate editor in 1989. In her 18 years with the newspaper, she supervised hundreds of journalists and helped to establish the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the daily Calendar section and the Book Review. She also supervised coverage in the food, travel and real estate sections.

During her tenure overseeing the arts and entertainment sections, the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes for arts coverage.

Taylor was a woman whose talent and persistence earned her a place in cigar-chomping newsrooms where women were often seen as unsuited to the gritty work of real reporting, The Times reported.

A widow, she leaves a son, step daughters and step-grandchildren.

City News Service