He worked on the student newspaper at Middlebury College, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1956. He first job at The A.P. was covering the Vermont State House.
In 1962, Mr. Mears’s house caught fire, killing his two children, Pamela and Walter Jr., and his wife, Sally (Danton) Mears. Two subsequent marriages, to Joyce (Lund) Mears and Carroll Ann (Imle) Mears, ended in divorce. His fourth wife, Frances (Rioux) Mears, also a journalist at The A.P., died of cancer in 2019.
After retiring in 2001, Mr. Mears taught journalism at the University of North Carolina and lived in Chapel Hill.
In addition to his daughter Susan, from his marriage to Joyce Mears, Mr. Mears is survived by another daughter from that marriage, Stephanie Stich; a brother, William; and five grandchildren.
The afternoon before he died, Susan Mears said, his daughters were keeping him company, along with a Methodist pastor who had long known him. The pastor, describing Mr. Mears’s expertise in American politics, recalled a conversation many years earlier during which he had been amazed at how much Mr. Mears knew about the 1936 presidential election, which took place when he was 1 year old.
As Mr. Mears appeared to sleep, the pastor tried to remember the name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Republican challenger.
Before either of the Mears daughters had a chance to reply, they heard a familiar voice — softer and slower than they were accustomed to, but with the speed, authoritative tone and factual command that had for decades guided America’s leading political reporters.
“Alf Landon,” Mr. Mears said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nytimes.com
