
David Wagner, who helped lead Madison newspaper strike, dies at 79
David Wagner, who helped lead the 1977 newspaper strike in Madison, died on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Tempe, Arizona. He was 78.
Wagner graduated from high school in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from UW-Madison. He became poetry editor of the underground newspaper Connections, and a short-time editor of the alternative weekly, Madison Kaleidoscope. He worked at The Capital Times from 1966 to 1972, as a protege of former editor Elliott Maraniss. Following the newspaper's strike, Wagner went on to work as editorial page editor of the The Waukesha Freeman and as an editor at The Arizona Republic until his early retirement for health reasons.