John Foley, a one-time deputy managing editor and politics editor at the Los Angeles Times, has died of natural causes at the age of 94, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Foley was a politics editor during several presidential elections in the late 1970s and 1980s, The Times reported. He oversaw coverage of Watergate, the Los Angeles Olympics and helped create the Los Angeles Times Poll, which gathered and distributed the public’s opinion on political issues and is now the USC Dornsife/L.A. Times Poll.
Foley was thought of highly by colleagues.
“He was deputy managing editor of the newspaper, but he cared much less about titles than about guiding reporters to tell deep, thoughtful and literary stories that would earn a spot in Column One, a feature he created in 1968 that distinguished The Times from other leading news organizations,” the newspaper reported. “Fifty years later, as the newspaper prepares to revive the beloved Column One that Foley nurtured, his impact on the newspaper and his reputation as a role model for the newsroom remains.”
Foley died of natural causes on Sept. 5 in a senior-living home in Azusa surrounded by loved ones, his family told the newspaper.
He is survived by six children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. His family plans to raise funds to plant a tree in his honor in the Los Angeles Arboretum.