Hugh C. Newton, 10/17/30 – 6/18/07

Arlington, VA — “Hugh Newton was one of the finest persons I’ve had the privilege to work with. He was one of the few media men everyone respected, no matter their political persuasion, and speaking for myself, the single best PR ‘flack’ I believe Washington DC has ever known. He loved to call himself a ‘flack,’ a term of endearment to old newspaper reporters, including yours truly. Hugh Newton is irreplaceable.” So said Jim Martin, head of the national senior’s group, the 60 Plus Association, upon news of Newton’s passing during the evening of June 18 at Inova’s Mount Vernon, Virginia, Hospital.

Newton joined the 60 Plus team as a part-time consultant in 2001 shortly after his retirement as counsel to the Heritage Foundation. “Hugh helped hone our messages on behalf of senior citizens, especially the message to ‘Kill The Death Tax.’ Whatever success 60 Plus has garnered in the media world today is in large part a credit to his PR savvy and it seems like only yesterday during Hugh’s first days with us that some staffers came to me to complain at how loud Hugh’s old-style Remington typewriter was, the racket a direct contrast with today’s ultra-quiet computers. I replied: ‘Leave Hugh alone, he’s creating.’

Born in Westchester County, N.Y. and a graduate of Washington and Lee University, Newton served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He began his career as a reporter for the Danville (Va.) Bee in the mid-1950s.

“I first got to know Hugh at the National Right to Work Committee in the 60s. His words were crafted to persuade the federal government and state legislatures to eradicate compulsory union membership.

“Hugh and his longtime sidekick, another first-rate PR ‘flack,’ Herb Berkowitz, formed a ‘dynamic duo,’ if you will, as conservatives who got along famously even with liberal writers because of their finely crafted and reasoned messages from a conservative point of view.

“The Washington public affairs scene has lost a pro’s pro. Groups like the 60 Plus Association, BAMPAC (Black America’s Political Action Committee) and the ACRU (American Civil Rights Union) have lost a giant spokesman. I have lost a friend.

“All of us at the 60 Plus Association wish Hugh C. Newton eternal rest and will keep his wife, Joanne, and their children and grandchildren in our prayers,” Martin concluded.

When informed of Newton’s passing, 60 Plus national spokesman Pat Boone said, “In my 50 years of dealing with the media, I’ve met no one who knows the business like Hugh Newton or brought a kinder heart to it.”

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