Max Heath, one of the newspaper industry’s leading postal experts for decades, died Wednesday, July 28, in Louisville, Ky., the National Newspaper Association announced. He was 75 and had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke days earlier.
Heath, a longtime postal guru for NNA, was postal chair emeritus for the association and remained a consultant to the NNA Postal Committee. His time as NNA’s top postal expert began in 1989 when he joined the Postmaster General’s Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. He served on numerous task forces and special committees to oversee USPS changes and preserve affordable national mail delivery options for community newspapers.
As a top postal expert, Heath served as a valuable resource for newspaper publishers in Wisconsin and across the country. He also conducted many training seminars for NNA, WNA and other newspaper associations. His educational materials continue to be used by the NNA Foundation to assist community newspapers to this day.
Heath was recognized by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association in 2010, receiving the association’s first-ever Distinguished Service Award for Contributions to Wisconsin Newspapers. He was presented with the honor during the 2010 WNA Convention & Trade Show at the Madison Marriott West in Madison.
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In addition to his postal efforts, Heath worked many years for Landmark Community Newspapers, a chain of daily and weekly newspapers based in Shelbyville, Ky. He served as executive editor from 1980 to 2001 and as vice president of circulation from 1983 to 2006. Following his retirement, Heath continued to serve as a postal consultant for the group until it was sold earlier this year to Paxton Media Group.
Prior to his years with the Landmark group, Heath served as general manager of News Publishing Company and editor of The Perry County News, both in Tell City, Ind., from 1975 to 1980. He also spent more than a decade with his hometown newspaper in Campbellsville, Ky., the Central Kentucky News-Journal. He served as editor, general manager and managing editor for the News-Journal.
Heath is a past president of both the Kentucky Press Association and the Hoosier State Press Association. He was named to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996 and was honored with a Distinguished Service Award by the HSPA in 2006.
Visitation for Heath is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2, at Parrott & Ramsey Funeral Home in Campbellsville. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 3, at the funeral home.
