Los Angeles Times Publishes "Frank del Olmo: Commentaries on His Times"

Sept. 9, 2004 12 AM PT

Proceeds to benefit California Chicano News Media Assn.’s Frank del Olmo Scholarship Fund

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9, 2004 – In a tribute commemorating the 33-year career of the late Los Angeles Times associate editor Frank del Olmo, The Times has published “Frank del Olmo: Commentaries on His Times,” a compilation of 90 columns by del Olmo offering a historical sweep of some of the most important issues of the last quarter century.

Del Olmo spent nearly his entire journalism career with The Times and was 55 when he died from a heart attack Feb. 19, 2004. He had served as associate editor of The Times since 1998 and was the first Latino promoted to The Times’ masthead of top editors.

He played key roles in the formation of the California Chicano News Media Assn. and the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists, and was widely recognized for his efforts to improve news coverage of the nation’s Latino community and bringing more Latinos and other underrepresented groups into journalism. He also worked on international journalism issues as a board member of the Committee to Protect Journalists and his columns often appeared in Mexican and Latin American newspapers.

The 264-page book is available for purchase beginning today. Hardback copies are $26.95 and paperback copies are $16.95. Orders may be placed online at www.latimes.com/FrankdelOlmo or by calling 213-237-5354. (ISBN: 1-883792-26-6)

Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Frank del Olmo Memorial Scholarship Fund established by the California Chicano News Media Assn. and The Times.

“Frank del Olmo: Commentaries on His Times” was co-edited by Magdalena Beltran-del Olmo, del Olmo’s wife, who is vice president of communications for The California Wellness Foundation, and Frank Sotomayor, assistant director of the Minority Editorial Training Program and hiring editor at The Times, and a colleague of del Olmo’s for more than 30 years.

“Because of Frank’s work, innumerable journalists hold meaningful jobs today on U.S. news staffs,” said Times Editor John Carroll in a tribute appearing in the book. “Equally important, he was instrumental in opening the eyes of major newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, to the importance of covering the nation’s Latino communities.”

In the book’s forward, Sotomayor writes, “Some obituaries called Frank a ‘Latino columnist’ or a ‘voice for Latinos.’ Those characterizations are accurate enough – he was proud to be a journalist of Mexican American heritage – but they don’t convey the whole picture. While many of commentaries deal with Latino-oriented subjects, the underlying themes he explored – the search for truth, advocacy for justice, a loving attachment to family – are all-American and universal.”

Highlights

The 90 commentaries – culled from the almost 450 columns del Olmo authored – are grouped into 10 themed chapters covering politics, Mexico and Central America, Latino California, unions and the grass roots, journalism and mass media, education, sports, immigration, law enforcement and the military, and his son Frankie’s journey with autism.

“Many people don’t realize what an international reach my husband’s autism columns had among parents with special needs children thanks to the Internet,” said Beltran-del Olmo. “He wrote with heart and intellect to inform people about autism and the need for increased research and policy changes to help our kids – and we heard from parents around the world.”

All 10 columns that del Olmo wrote about autism appear in the book.

The book also features an eight-page photo collection reflecting his family and professional accomplishments as well as several tributes including those from novelist Carlos Fuentes, Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Times Editor John Carroll.

About Frank del Olmo

Del Olmo joined The Times in 1970 as an intern reporter with the Metro staff. From 1971 to 1980, he was a staff writer specializing in Latin American affairs. He joined the editorial pages in 1980 as an editorial writer and, in 1989, was named deputy editorial page editor. From 1995 to 1998, he also served as an assistant to the editor of The Times.

Del Olmo was a member of the team of Times staffers awarded a 1984 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Meritorious Public Service for the series, “Southern California’s Latino Community.” He also won an Emmy Award for writing “The Unwanted,” a 1975 documentary on illegal immigration. In 1982, the Society of Professional Journalists awarded him its Career Achievement Award.

Del Olmo was a board member and a founder of the California Chicano News Media Assn. and served two terms as its president. In 2002, he was inducted into the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame.

A native of Los Angeles, del Olmo earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism magna cum laude from California State University, Northridge. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 1987 to 1988. He also completed the Newspaper Management Program at Northwestern University.

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes, including five this year – the second-largest yearly total in the history of the awards. The Times publishes five daily regional editions including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as a National edition. Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.