Ward Winslow, Palo Alto historian, former newspaper editor

Wardell Winslow, who spent a lifetime writing about Palo Alto and Santa Clara County, died July 7 at Stanford University Hospital following a two-month illness. He was 73.

Winslow, known as "Dode" to family, friends and associates, was a retired newspaper reporter, editor, book author and a historian of Palo Alto and Santa Clara County.

Before his illness, he had been active, working on a new history project, traveling and even taking a ski trip in April. He was being treated for autoimmune hepatitis when he suffered a heart attack in early July, complicated by kidney problems. At his death, he was surrounded by his wife, children, stepchildren, sister, niece, nephew and grandchildren.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Saratoga, Winslow graduated from Palo Alto High School and the University of Colorado before undertaking graduate study at Stanford University.

He began his newspaper career in 1948 as a reporter for the Palo Alto Times, covering a variety of beats, including courthouse news, and earning $40 a week, which he preferred describing as, "$1 an hour." In 1950, he wrote the first local news story reporting Varian Associates' intent to move to Palo Alto.

In 1952 he was called to duty as a U.S. Navy officer during the Korean conflict, returning to the Palo Alto newsroom in 1954. He would later depart the newsroom once more, winning a Congressional fellowship that sent him to the nation's capital for one year as a staff intern.

He covered the Palo Alto Unified School District during the time that David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., was the dominant member of the school board.

He subsequently became the Times' associate editor and its chief editorial writer, writing nearly all of the paper's daily editorials for more than two decades.

"He was one of our very best writers," Alexander Bodi, then editor of the Times, said from his current home in Salt Lake City. "He was just an all-around newsman and very respected in the newsroom and the community."

When the Times and its sister daily newspaper, the Redwood City Tribune, were merged to create the Peninsula Times Tribune in 1979, Winslow became editor of its editorial pages. He was promoted to managing editor in November 1981 and retired from daily journalism in 1984 to launch a writing service.

Robert Burgess, a longtime colleague and former city editor at the Times, described Winslow as "a mainstay of the Palo Alto Times and later the Times Tribune.

"As a reporter he covered many areas, but particularly government and politics. He pioneered the Times' future news bureau in San Jose that covered Santa Clara County government. He was a superb writer and editor, meticulous on facts--a model for the whole newsroom," Burgess said.

Winslow's first major project following his retirement from the paper was writing the Palo Alto Historical Association's book, "Palo Alto: A Centennial History," published in 1993 to commemorate the city's 1994 centennial year. He also self-published a collection of his writings entitled "Pages from a Palo Alto Editor's Scrapbook."

Winslow's most recent book was "The Making of Silicon Valley: A One Hundred Year Renaissance," published in 1996 by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association. He was also working on "Silicon Valley, 2000" when he became ill.

He also served for more than 15 years on the board of the California History Center and Foundation, based at De Anza College.

Winslow is survived by his wife, Holly Winslow of Los Altos; children Lynne Winslow of San Francisco; Parmita Pushman of Boulder, Colo.; Edward Winslow of New York City, N.Y.; and Mary Winslow Hanson of Santa Cruz; stepchildren Carol Thuman of San Francisco; Holly Anne Thuman of San Francisco; and Teresa Bunnage of Portland, Ore.; his sister, Robin Smith of Atherton; and three grandchildren.

Winslow's first marriage, to Marilyn Mills, ended in divorce. He and Holly met through their children at a folk-dancing group. They shared a passion for skiing and travel. In the fall of 1999 they took a 20th anniversary cruise trip to the Mediterranean, visiting Jerusalem, the pyramids of Egypt, the Greek isles and Venice. "I'm so glad we took that trip," Holly said.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, July 14, at Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Road in Los Altos, with a reception following at the church, where he was an active member. Winslow had earlier served the Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto as a vestryman and Sunday school teacher. Contributions may be made in his name to the California History Center and Foundation, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, 95014.

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