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THE UTAH NEWSPAPER HALL OF FAME writes are gone forever and live only in the memories of the oldtimers or in history. Our own actions become history when passed to the next generation." The end of those days came August 4, 1932 and the "fighting editor" was laid to rest beneath a simple headstone bearing only his name, no epitaph. His sister, Emogene Melville, succeeded in having him posthumously reinstated by his Church. What is history's summation of his life and times? One popular view is that few have stayed so long by their convictions and remained so fearlessly independent for the cause of justice and righteousness. In time, his adherents insist, his journalistic accomplishments will not only be known, but perhaps appreciated. Recognition in the Hall of Fame is, in some measure, fulfillment of that prediction. ABRAHAM B. GIBSON, Pleasant Grove Review Born February 14, 1894 - Died February 7, 1976 Installed in Hall of Fame at St. George, 1990 His newspaper career spanned an incredible 66 years, all but four of them as publisher or co-publisher. It began in 1901, when he became a 15-year old printer's devil, and ended early in 1976 when his life was snuffed out in an automobile accident. And even on that day, though within a week of age 82, he was still playing a key role in operations of the Pleasant Grove Review, which he'd then published for 34 years. Before Pleasant Grove, he'd been associated with two papers in Nephi -- the Juab County Times and the Nephi Times-News. He was Abraham Beitler Gibson, but few knew him by more than the initials "A.B." or the abbreviated "Abe," which he deemed adequate for any purpose, including by-lined stories and editorials. It may have simply been circumstance that brought him to a career in newspapering, for the path that led to it was somewhat circuitous. He was born on February 14, 1894 to 523 |