Don Mills, former Herald-Leader editor who also had career in politics, dies
Don Mills, 90, a former editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader who served as an aide to two Kentucky governors, died Monday at his home in Lexington.
Mills was editor of the Lexington Herald from 1968 to 1979. He led the Sunday Herald-Leader after Knight Newspapers bought the Herald and The Leader in 1973.
“Editorially, he supported the integration of the Lexington Fire Department, the formation of the Lexington-Fayette County government, strong open housing, reform of the broad-form deed and judiciary system, preservation of the state merit system, construction of Rupp Arena and restoration of the Opera House,” his obituary stated. “He served on a committee to establish a long-term financial plan in Lexington similar to what state government uses to finance projects. He also supported tough enforcement of environmental laws, including stricter strip-mining laws.”
His tenure at the newspaper was bookended by service in the administrations of two Kentucky governors, Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt Jr., for whom he was press secretary, and John Y. Brown Jr.
Mills served as director of the Kentucky Public Service Commission under Govs. Brereton Jones and Paul Patton, according to his obituary. He left the post at the PSC in 1997, according to Herald-Leader archives.
In 1982, Mills ran unsuccessfully for the Congressional seat held by Republican Larry Hopkins, who held the 6th District seat from 1979 to 1993.
In the mid-1980s, he owned and operated the Lexington Copy Center on Harrodsburg Road.
Mills started his journalism career as a 13-year-old boy growing up in Clinton in far Western Kentucky, when he started a local newspaper called The Weekly Messenger, which he produced for more than three years, according to his obituary.
He went on to work as a reporter at the Paducah Sun-Democrat.
He was a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was active in a number of civic organizations.
Funeral services will be conducted at noon June 6 at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home on Harrodsburg Road. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.
