Thomas V.H. Vail ’48

Tom died Nov. 27, 2023, at age 97.

A third-generation Clevelander, Tom dedicated his life to his hometown both as publisher of The Plain Dealer and as a prominent community builder. Under his 26-year stewardship, The Plain Dealer became Ohio’s largest daily newspaper and an influential editorial voice. His efforts to revitalize the city included founding the New Cleveland Campaign in 1978 to promote the city and co-founding Cleveland Tomorrow in 1981 to foster economic growth.

Tom, whose father, Herman Vail 1917, and brother H. Lansing Vail ’46 both attended Princeton, was a member of Charter Club and Triangle. He graduated in February 1949 with a degree in politics.

Several months later, Tom became a police reporter for the Cleveland News and, as he wrote in our 50th-reunion yearbook, “was then and forever after fascinated by the newspaper business.” After getting experience in both the editorial and business sides, he became publisher of The Plain Dealer in 1963 at age 36.

In Tom’s obituary on cleveland.com, his longtime assistant and successor as publisher, Alex Machaskee, noted that Tom energized the newspaper by bringing in young talent and “began the transformation of The Plain Dealer from an ‘old gray lady’ to a livelier, more relevant, politically balanced newspaper.” In 1967, The Plain Dealer’s front-page endorsement of Carl Stokes helped him become the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city.

Tom and his wife, Iris, were prominent civic figures. “Our main civic interests have been trying to help the city of Cleveland, including supporting constructive politicians and creative civic-minded business leaders, re-landscaping the Cleveland Public Square, and promoting good architecture and other (we hope) worthy causes,” he wrote.

Tom’s dedication to the newspaper business was so strong that he declined appointments to be secretary of the Navy (by President Lyndon B. Johnson) and to be ambassador to Germany (under President Richard Nixon) to stay at The Plain Dealer. He later wrote a book about his associations and interviews with nine U.S. presidents.

Iris died two days after Tom did. Two children — Siri Vail Burki and Thomas Jr. — survive him. A third child, Lawrence, died in 1990. The Class of 1948 sends its condolences on the passing of our distinguished classmate.