April 9

Peyton Anderson was born in 1907 in Macon with newspaper ink in his veins. His uncle edited and published the Macon Telegraph and later the Macon News; his father was vice president of the company; another uncle was a columnist.

Anderson began working at the paper at age 9 sweeping floors. After earning a Bronze Star as a public relations officer in the Navy during World War II, Anderson returned to the Macon Telegraph and News in 1947 and four years later became sole owner of the family paper.

For 18 years, Anderson was a publisher’s publisher: he shined the light in dark places and pursued the truth regardless of personal or business connections. Anderson sold the paper to Knight Newspapers in 1969 and focused on giving back to his community. At his death in 1988, he left the Peyton Anderson Foundation $35 million dollars to benefit middle Georgia.

The newspaperman whose impact is still felt in Macon was born on April 9, 1907, Today in Georgia History.