Lasting Influence

2012 Hall Of Fame

 

Otis Brumby

Publisher

The Marietta Daily Journal, Neighbor Newspapers

Marietta

Age: 71

Otis Brumby Jr. has spent a lifetime covering what’s going on in Georgia. As the publisher of The Marietta Daily Journal and Neighbor Newspapers, a collection of 26 community and suburban newspapers scattered among 10 Metro Atlanta counties, he has spent more than 50 years uncovering scandals and keeping residents in the know.

He is a strong advocate for open records laws here in Georgia.

“It strengthens our democracy if people know what our government is doing,” he says. “It helps hold the government more accountable. The government is larger and more complex today than ever before, so I think it’s more important than ever that newspapers read us chapter and verse what’s going on with our local government.”

Brumby is well known for his community service. Over the years, he has served on numerous boards, including the Georgia Press Association and the Southern Newspaper Publisher’s Association. He is currently a trustee of the UGA Foundation and on the board of directors for the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. He has served as chair of the State Board of Education and served a five-year term on the state’s Department of Transportation board.

“I really never sought public service positions,” he says, “but I’ve always been asked, and I’ve always tried to say yes and serve the best way I could.”

In 2004, The Marietta Daily Journal was named the best in the state by the Georgia Press Association.

“I really enjoy working for the newspaper,” he says. “I don’t consider it work. I tell everybody it’s like having a seat on the 50-yard line for what’s going on in your community.” – Christy Simo

 

Bobby Cox

Retired Manager

Atlanta Braves

Marietta

Age: 70

Twenty years later, Bobby Cox still marvels at the suddenness of it all.

Sure, he’d spent several years as general manager trying to build a better Atlanta ball club, acquiring a mix of young and veteran talent, but no team in Major League Baseball history had ever gone from worst to first from one year to the next. But things were so bad in 1990 that Cox fired Russ Nixon midseason and made himself manager.

And then the Braves stunned everyone in 1991, winning the division, the pennant in a thrilling championship series against the Pirates, and then took the Minnesota Twins (who also had gone from worst to first) to seven games in what may have been the best World Series ever played.

“That 1991 season will always be the one that sticks out most for me,” says Cox. “The Atlanta fans really didn’t have much to cheer about in the previous years, and we came out of nowhere to win that pennant.

“We got knocked out of a fantastic World Series, but the frenzy and energy of that year was enormous. That's when it started being fun to get into your car and drive to the ballpark.”

It stayed fun for years. Cox, who retired in 2010, managed the Braves to 14 straight first-place finishes beginning in 1991, five National League pennants and a World Series title (1995). Cox is a shoo-in for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s fourth all-time in games managed (4,508) and wins (2,504), first in postseason appearances (and in ejections – Cox was thrown out of 158 games).

“I was lucky to have a supportive front office that put great players on the field and trusted me and our coaches,” Cox says. “I’ve lived a very good baseball life.” – Jerry Grillo

 

2011

Ray Anderson

(1935-2011)

Chairman

Interface, Inc.

 

David Ratcliffe

Former CEO/Chairman/President

Southern Company

 

Franklin Skinner

Retired CEO/Chairman

BellSouth Telecommunications

 

2010

Dr. Joseph Lowery

Minister, Civil Rights Leader

 

Bill Shipp

Journalist, Political Columnist

 

2009

Spurgeon Richardson

Former President/CEO

Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau

 

2008

Hank Aaron

Baseball Legend

Founder/Owner

755 Restaurant Corp.

 

Mack Mattingly

Former U.S. Senator

Former Assistant

Secretary General (NATO)

Former U.S. Ambassador

(Seychelles)

 

Carl Patton

Former President

Georgia State University

 

Herman J. Russell

Chairman/Founder

H.J. Russell & Company

 

2007

A.D. “Pete” Correll

Former Chairman/CEO

Georgia-Pacific Corp.

 

Bernie Marcus

Co-founder, The Home Depot

Philanthropist

 

William S. Morris III

Chairman/CEO

Morris Communications Co.

 

2006

James Blanchard

Retired Board Chairman & CEO

Synovus Financial Corp.

 

Zell Miller

Senior Strategic Advisor

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP

Former Governor

U.S. Senator

 

Betty Siegel

Former President

Kennesaw State University

 

2005

Tom Cousins

Former Board Chairman

Cousins Properties Inc.

 

Vince Dooley

Athletic Director Emeritus

University of Georgia

 

2004

Tommy Irvin

 Former Georgia Commissioner

of Agriculture

 

Manuel Maloof

(1924-2004)

Longtime DeKalb County CEO

and Commissioner

 

Sam Massell

President, Buckhead Coalition

Former Mayor, City of Atlanta

 

J. Mack Robinson

Businessman, Philanthropist

 

Ted Turner

Founder, CNN, TNT and TBS

Environmentalist and

Philanthropist

 

2003

Jimmy Carter

Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Former President

 

Rosalynn Carter

Former First Lady

Mental Health Advocate

 

Dr. Louis Sullivan

Founding Dean, Morehouse

School of Medicine

Former U.S. Secretary of Health

and Human Services

 

Sam Nunn

Former U.S. Senator

National Defense Authority

 

Griffin Bell

(1918-2009)

Former U.S. Attorney General

Former U.S. Circuit Court Judge

 

S. Truett Cathy

Founder, Chick-fil-A, Philanthropist

 

Andrew Young

Former Mayor,

City of Atlanta

Former U.S. Ambassador to the

United Nations

Civic Leader

 

Carl Sanders

Former Governor, Attorney

 

John C. Portman Jr.

Architect, Developer and Entrepreneur

 

Thomas B. Murphy

(1924-2007)

Longtime Speaker,

Georgia House of Representatives