William F. Prisk Explained

William Frederick Prisk, Jr. (April 2, 1870 – December 21, 1962) was a California newspaper executive and a politician from California.

Early life

Prisk was born in Grass Valley, California.^[1] Prisk's father was William Prisk, a miner. Prisk's mother was Mary (Hosking) Prisk. Prisk's parents were natives of Camborne, Cornwall, England, who settled in Grass Valley, California.^[2]

Career

Prisk held posts on the Grass Valley Union (editor and publisher), Evening Telegraph (publisher, typesetter, reporter and business manager), Pasadena Star-News (co-owner with his brother Charles H. Prisk), Long Beach Press-Telegram (editor-publisher). He was elected to the California State Senate in 1897, and at the time, was the youngest member of the California State Legislature. For his many years as editor-publisher of the Press-Telegram, he received the nickname "Mr. Long Beach".^[3]

Personal life

Prisk became a naturalized US citizen in 1869.^[4] Three years after his death in Long Beach, he was selected to the California Newspaper Publishers Association's Newspaper Hall of Fame.^[5]

Legacy

The William F. Prisk Elementary School in the Long Beach Unified School District is named in his honor.^[6]

Partial works

• 1895 pictorial history of Nevada County, California
• Nevada county mining review

External links

• Join California William F. Prisk

Notes and References

1. Web site: William F. Prisk. Media Museum of Northern California. 2 January 2012.
2. Book: White, James Terry. The National cyclopaedia of American biography: being the history of the United States as illustrated in the lives of the founders, builders, and defenders of the republic, and of the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the thought of the present time. 2 January 2012. 1967. University Microfilms. 40.
3. Book: Healey, John. Editors West: California Press Association, Newspaper Hall of Fame. 2 January 2012. 1978. Journalism Dept., California Polytechnic State University. 26.
4. Book: Payton, Philip. The Cornish overseas: a history of Cornwall's 'great emigration'. 2 January 2012. 15 April 2005. Dundurn Press Ltd.. 978-1-904880-04-2. 215–.
5. News: Nevada County's Hall of Fame: William F. Prisk, publisher By Bob Wyckoff. Wyckoff. Bob . July 14, 2007. The Union. 2 January 2012.
6. Web site: William F. Prisk . William F. Prisk Elementary School . Historic Resources report Press-Telegram and Meeker/Baker Buildings Long Beach, CA 31 July 2006, rev 15 August 2006, and California Newspaper Hall of Fame.. Long Beach Unified School District . 2 January 2012.