Heslop, J. Malan, 1923-2011

Heslop served for 20 years as the Deseret News' chief photographer, 8 years as the Church News editor and 10 years as managing editor.

From the description of J Malan Heslop photograph collection, ca. 1970s. (Utah Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 122322970

Heslop worked as Church News editor for many years.

From the guide to the PH 5362 J M. Heslop photograph transparencies collection 1950-1995 (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Church History Library)

J Malan Heslop (b. 1923) is an American photojournalist, newspaper editor, and missionary from Utah.

J Malan Heslop (b. 1923) was foremost a photojournalist, with a career which spanned forty-five years. He was a photographer in World War II for the 167 Army Signal Photographic Company in the European Theater, and spent forty years with the Deseret News newspaper. During his distinguished forty-year career, he served twenty years as the chief photographer, eight years as Church News editor and ten years as managing editor of the Deseret News, with three years as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Heslop covered local, national, and international events while at the Deseret News, from the inauguration of Utah's governors to those of presidents of the United States. He was on President Harry Truman's campaign train in Colorado and rode with the party to Salt Lake City. He covered airline crashes, numerous fires, and mine disasters, and for many years traveled extensively on LDS Church related assignments. His four trips to Israel and the Middle East and his coverage of Cambodian refugees in 1979 produced numerous articles and hundreds of moving and exquisite photographs.

Professional honors included being ranked by Life magazine as sixth among 1720 entrants for its young photographers contest in 1951. In 1972 the Deseret News rewarded Heslop its first-ever "Outstanding Performance Award." It came with a $500 cash bonus and, in typical fashion, Heslop gave half of the award to his staff of five. His career and his life were intimately connected with the LDS Church.

J Malan Heslop was born June 18, 1923 in Taylor, Weber County, Utah, to Jesse and Zella Malan Heslop. His birth certificate confirms that his name is J without the period. As Heslop would say, "It's a name and not an initial." When he was three years old the family moved to a farm in West Weber, Utah, where he grew up as the oldest of three children.

Heslop's love of photography was inspired and encouraged by his father, Jesse, who acquired a glass plate camera around 1906. By the time Heslop was born, Jesse had the popular Kodak roll film folding camera. Heslop describes photography as an "abiding factor" in his life. In 1939 he began attending Weber High School, where he was active in track and field, played the trombone in the school band, and joined the Photography Club. During this time one of his favorite school activities was taking photos for the yearbook. He finally bought his first camera-a 35 mm Argus C-3 with an f3.5 lens and a flash. He graduated from high school on May 17, 1941 and enrolled at Weber College in Ogden, Utah, in Fall 1941.

Traveling from Chicago on December 7, 1941, Heslop heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. He recorded in his journal, "It was startling news, but I didn't really know what it meant for me." Within a year it would change his life dramatically.

He decided to study photography at Los Angeles City College and registered in September 1942. In October 1942 he enlisted in the Army Reserve Corps and by early November he was studying at Paramount Studios as a part of the Signal Corps Photographers School. By April 1943 he was called to active duty.

Before departing for Europe, Heslop married Fae Stokes on May 1, 1944 in the Salt Lake Temple of the LDS Church. By the early age of 21 he was a married man and heading to Europe to photograph and experience the war. His photographs provide a moving and memorable visual witness to the final nine months of the war's European Theater, from September 1944 to the end of the war in May 1945.

Upon his return he reunited with his wife, Fae, and enrolled at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University). He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Agriculture in the Spring of 1948 and almost immediately he was hired by the Deseret News as a photographer.

During his busy professional years, J and Fae Heslop also raised a family of five children-Paul, daughter Lyn, Scott, Ann, and Don and became the grandparents of nineteen. A loving family man, J and Fae's autobiography, Doubletree Adventure: Autobiography of J Malan and Eleanor Fae Stokes Heslop is filled with pictures of the growing family and their exploits and interests. It is also filled with their active involvement as members of the LDS Church, including their service as mission president in the Chicago North Mission.

Upon retirement in 1988 J and Fae continued to travel, spend time with family, and be involved in their church. Importantly, J is still taking photographs wherever he goes. A chapter in J Heslop's life changed dramatically when his beloved wife of almost 65 years passed away in Salt Lake City on November 29, 2009. Their autobiography Doubletree Adventure was carefully and aptly named by J and Fae, as "doubletree" is a word meaning "an equalizing bar used with a team of work horses."

From the guide to the J Malan Heslop photographs and other material, bulk 1944-2000, 1912-2004, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)