John Parks, retired publisher of The Detroit Legal News, died Tuesday morning, May 25 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 61.
Funeral arrangement for Parks, a native of metro Detroit, are pending. A detailed story on his life and newspaper career will appear in an upcoming edition of The Legal News.
Before retiring in late fall of 2006, Parks served as publisher of The Detroit Legal News, The Oakland County Legal News, and The Macomb County Legal News in addition to assorted other publications in company’s statewide network of daily and weekly newspapers.
Parks, who attended Eastern Michigan University, seemingly was destined for a career in publishing. His father, John P. Parks, sported a newspaper pedigree, serving as publisher of The Highland Parker Newspapers. Following college, Parks joined The Legal Advertiser in 1971 as a salesman, rising through the ranks to become general manager and then publisher in 1990.
Ten years later he was instrumental in merging The Legal Advertiser with The Detroit Legal News operation, a joining of longtime competitors into a company that has since grown to 10 papers across Michigan. He was a longtime board member of the Michigan Press Association, ever promoting the importance of publishing legal notices to the future of newspapers across the state.
Suzanne Favale, who succeeded Parks as publisher, told Legal News employees of his passing in terms that said it all:
“The world lost a wonderful man today.”
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