By Rick Steelhammer [email protected]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Craig Selby, long-time publisher and general manager of Charleston Newspapers, the former parent company of The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail, died Monday after a long illness. He was 77.
Selby spent his entire career at Charleston Newspapers, starting in 1968 as an advertising salesman shortly after earning a degree in journalism from West Virginia University. He was later named the company’s personnel director before advancing to assistant general manager, vice president and general manager, assuming the role of publisher in 1992.
As publisher, Selby was largely responsible for introducing the geographically zoned “Metro” editions that appeared weekly in both newspapers, featuring news and advertising focusing on communities surrounding Charleston.
Selby served on the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and was active in the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.
He remained Charleston Newspapers’ publisher until 2004, when the Daily Gazette Company effectively acquired a controlling interest in Charleston Newspapers by buying the Charleston Daily Mail from its owner, MediaNews.
Selby served as the company’s general manager from 2004 until his retirement in 2012.
“He loved the newspaper business,” said his wife, Susan. “He was very proud to have worked at Charleston Newspapers and the people who worked there. At one point, he knew the names of everyone in the building.”
Born and raised in Morgantown, Selby graduated from Morgantown High School, where he was a pitcher on the school’s baseball team, before enrolling at WVU. He and his wife have lived in Charleston since Selby began his 44-year newspaper career here in 1968.
In addition to his wife, Selby’s survivors include daughters Crista Reed of Flower Mound, Texas, and Allyson Fox of Birmingham, Alabama. He was the brother of actor David Selby.
A service will be held later this month, with time and date to be announced. Snodgrass Funeral Home, in South Charleston, is in charge of arrangements.
