David Asper Johnson, 68; Founder, Publisher of Argonaut Newspaper

David Asper Johnson, 68, the founder, editor and publisher of the Argonaut, a weekly newspaper serving Santa Monica, Venice and surrounding communities, died Wednesday at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, the paper reported. The cause of death was not announced but he had battled a rare blood disease for some time.

Johnson founded the Argonaut on Nov. 25, 1971, as a twice-monthly newspaper. It became a weekly in 1972. Five years later, he co-founded the Beach Reporter, a weekly published in Manhattan Beach.

He graduated from high school in Missoula, Mont.

His first foray into publishing came during a two-year stint of active duty in the Navy Reserve. He published a weekly newspaper while assigned to the tank landing ship Rice County.

After his discharge, Johnson studied journalism at the University of Washington and later attended UCLA law school.

After college, he lived in The Hague and found work with the American Chamber of Commerce editing the first Netherlands-American Trade Directory.

He returned to the United States in 1970 and worked briefly for a weekly newspaper based in Calabasas before founding the Argonaut.

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Herbert D. “Ted” Doan, Dow Chemical Co. president and chief executive from 1962 to 1971 and the last Dow family member to run the company, died Tuesday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

He was 83.