Lee, Glenn C., (Glenn Clifford)

Glenn Lee was born near Eau Claire, Wisconsin on September 7, 1910. In 1933, he married Elaine Greenland. This union produced four children. Shortly after his marriage, he graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor's degree in business. From 1933 to 1944, Lee worked in the hotel industry, first as a room clerk, later as a manager and sales representative. During these years, he lived, at various times, in New York State, Arizona, Missouri, and Ohio. In 1944, Lee enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific. Following his tour of duty, he settled in Seattle and formed an export firm with Robert Philip, who was also a former naval officer.

In 1947, in conjunction with Hugh Scott, an experienced journalist, Philip and Lee formed the Scott Publishing Company and purchased the weekly Pasco Herald as an investment. Within months, the paper went daily and was re-named the Tri-City Herald in an effort to give a common identity to its Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco coverage area. Following Scott's 1949 departure, Lee became the Herald 's publisher. The Herald quickly developed a controversial reputation as a crusading newspaper. The paper's combative nature led to much litigation, including a libel suit from Franklin County Prosecutor William J. Gaffney, and, in 1949, a court order restraining the Herald from publishing articles on faulty construction at a housing development. The order was later lifted. A 1951- 1953 investigation of the Kennewick School District led to three libel suits against the Herald . In the midst of the controversy surrounding the investigation, Lee himself was elected to the Kennewick school board in 1953. During this period, Lee was also embroiled in litigation which resulted from his 1949 purchase of Mid-Columbia Publishers, Inc.

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