Lasting Memories

Larry T. Jordan
1932-March 24, 2007
Redwood City, California

Larry T. Jordan, 76, for five decades one the most popular newspapermen on the Peninsula, died March 24 after a brief illness.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, he left home and joined the British Merchant Service in the 1950s, serving on freighters and tankers during turbulent times in Cyprus and the Suez Canal. He immigrated to New York in 1960 and took a bus to Southern California, moving to Palo Alto three years later.

He joined the Palo Alto Times as an advertising salesman in 1963 and worked his way up to advertising director of the Peninsula Times-Tribune, as the paper was known after it was merged with the Redwood City Tribune.

"Larry could sell used paint. He could sell a dog to a cat," said David Burgin, former editor of the Peninsula Times-Tribune. "He was so delightfully entertaining that customers were happy to see him coming."

In 1981 he joined the Palo Alto Weekly as director of advertising.

"Larry loved family, golf and newspapers," Palo Alto Weekly publisher Bill Johnson said. "He knew his priorities. He was mentor to all who worked for him. And he knew that all newspapers were accountable first to the communities they served."

He later went on to a career in print production with Star Graphic Arts of Palo Alto, Brisbane and Foster City.

He was the author of two books of short stories about people in Ireland.

He was an avid golfer and for many years was a member of the board of directors of the Crystal Springs Golf Club in Burlingame. As editor of the club newsletter, the Crystal Bawl, he won several Northern California Golf Association awards. He wrote freelance golf and travel stories; was co-founder in 1985 of California Golf magazine; editor of Golf Divas, a magazine dedicated to empowering women through golf; and a lifetime member of the Golf Writers Association of America.

He was an actor and director in community theaters on the Peninsula, including the Menlo Players Guild and the Palo Alto Players Guild, and with the Stanford University drama department.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce Jordan of Redwood City; daughter, Maeve Jordan of Redwood City; sons, Emmett Jordan of Briggsdale, Colo., and Luke Jordan of Minneapolis, Minn.; three grandchildren; and two sisters and two brothers in Dublin, Ireland.