Staley Thomas McBrayer

Staley Thomas McBrayer’s innovative lithographic reproduction technique moved newspapers out of the hot type era and into the age of cold type. From 1947 to 1952, McBrayer Publishing Company conducted experiments in adapting an offset press to newspaper production. In 1953, McBrayer took the production specifications he had developed to the Grant Ghormley engineering firm and engaged them to build a newspaper offset press. This first press, called the Vanguard Press, was the forerunner in the newspaper printing industry. His peers soon agreed the invention saved small newspapers across the country. Among the newspapers McBrayer published were the Arlington and Grand Prairie Daily News-Texan, a daily at Hurst-Euless; the semiweekly Irving News-Record and weeklies at Haltom City and Richland Hills. He also served as national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, 1967-68. He earned the distinguished alumnus award from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1973 and the outstanding alumnus award in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin College of Communication. He was listed as of the “50 Most Influential Newspaper People of the 20th Century” by Editor & Publisher magazine in 1999.