Publisher of one of Canada’s last independently-owned dailies, The Chronicle Herald, dies at 84

Graham Dennis, owner of The Halifax Herald Ltd. and publisher of The Chronicle Herald, died at home in Halifax last night at the age of 84. The “fiercely proud” Nova Scotian had been performing those roles at the Atlantic Canadian paper for almost 60 years – from the “days of typewriters and telegraphs” into the Internet age, as an obituary posted on the Herald’s website says.

Graham Dennis, owner of The Halifax Herald Ltd. and publisher of The Chronicle Herald, died at home in Halifax last night at the age of 84. The “fiercely proud” Nova Scotian had been performing those roles at the Atlantic Canadian paper for almost 60 years – from the “days of typewriters and telegraphs” into the Internet age, as an obituary posted on the Herald’s website says.

The Herald remains one of Canada’s only independently-owned daily newspapers, though not on account of a lack of effort by those wishing to buy Dennis out. In a tribute to the late publisher, The Herald wrote that Dennis’ reply to those soliciting to buy the paper was always, “‘I’ll put you on the list.’” They noted that, “if the list existed, it led a long and uneventful life in his filing cabinet.”

According to The Herald, Dennis believed that the family-operated and locally owned approach was the best way to bring news to Nova Scotia.

The Herald’s obituary can be viewed here, and a more detailed tribute, here.