THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080533
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Forrest Landon, executive editor of The Roanoke Times, is retiring, Publisher Walter Rugaber announced Thursday.
He will be replaced Oct. 1 by Wendy Zomparelli, who is Rugaber's assistant.
Landon will step down in keeping with a corporate policy that top managers not serve after age 62. Landon will turn 62 on Sept. 24.
He has been executive editor since 1982.
Landon joined Times-World Corp. 40 years ago on the same day it began WDBJ-Television. Landon worked in broadcasting for a decade and was news director of WDBJ-Radio.
He was an editorial writer for the newspaper when the communications company was sold to Landmark Communications of Norfolk and the radio and television stations were sold to new owners.
Landon was editor of the editorial page of The Roanoke Times when he came to the newsroom to work in 1973. He became the newspaper's managing editor in 1979. He has been executive editor since 1982.
Zomparelli, 45, joined the newspaper 11 years ago as a features writer. She has been assistant features editor, features editor and, for the past three years, assistant to the publisher.
Zomparelli also worked as a writer and a copy editor for The Raleigh (N.C.) Times and the Raleigh News & Observer.
Rugaber praised Zomparelli for making improvements to the company's strategic plan and for her work with a reader research program, the results of which will play a significant role in how the newspaper pursues new subscribers while continuing to satisfy current ones.
Zomparelli also directed similar research for Landmark Communications, which owns The Roanoke Times and the daily newspapers in Norfolk and Greensboro, N.C. by CNB