FORT WORTH, Texas (BRAIN) — Bill Quinn, the longtime publisher of Bicycle Business Journal, has died. He was 102. Quinn's career spanned more than 80 years of publishing. He was still writing and taped an audio interview of his early years in newspapering just two months ago.
Steve Matill, director of bicycle sales at Hans Johnsen and a longtime friend of Quinn's, said he was a legend in the industry. "I've known Bill at least 37 years when I first started. Bill was a great writer and he loved the industry and was passionate about the business," he said.
Quinn was at one time the youngest newspaper publisher in the United States when he took over the Grand Saline Sun in 1935. He was 22 years old. During his years of reporting and editing, he also covered one of the nation's biggest tragedies at the time—a school explosion in New London, Texas, that killed 200 students.
Quinn was later editor of the Mineola Monitor, but left to join the U.S. Army during World War II. He was at first assigned to the 6th Corps personnel division, but because of his newspaper background joined the The Beachhead News, which he published while fighting raged around Anzio. He subsequently followed the Allied forces through Italy, France, and Germany and was awarded the Bronze Star.
After the war, he returned to Fort Worth where he married his longtime sweetheart, Lennie Roberson, a schoolteacher. He then bought the Ledger Printing Company and launched several regional publications before taking over Bicycle Business Journal, a regional monthly magazine for dealers that his company had been printing.
In 1959 Quinn founded Lawn Equipment Journal for the new and fast-growing lawn and garden industry. It was later renamed Outdoor Power Equipment and became one of the nation's largest trade magazines. His famous monthly columns, "Partly Personal," boosted readership in all his magazines.
Quinn wrote "Partly Personal" for years in BBJ, which was what many in the industry called the digest-size monthly magazines. He also mailed out "The Pink Thing," a newsletter printed on pink paper, to suppliers. His commentary often zinged industry executives. Nonetheless, everyone wanted to get it in the mail.
During his career he received many awards including the Scroll of Honor from the Bicycle Wholesale Distributors Association, now called the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association.
Quinn was an early critic of Wal-Mart, having watched the discounter kill off hundreds of small businesses throughout dozens of rural Texas towns. The small-town businesses simply could not beat Wal-Mart prices.
His observations led to his best-selling book, "How Wal-Mart is Destroying America (and the World) And What You Can Do About It." The book, first published in 1998 by Ten Speed Press, went through three editions and sold some 100,000 copies. It also led to multiple talk show appearances and interviews, including one with ABC Evening News' Peter Jennings.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday. Survivors include his son, Rix, and daughter-in-law, Erica Quinn, as well as numerous grand children, nieces and nephews.
