Journalist who helped shape Lexington for the better dies at 71

Vanessa Gallman, a barrier-breaking journalist who helped steer Lexington’s conscience for more than two decades as the editorial page editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, died Monday, Feb. 3 after an illness, her family said.

She was 71 years old.

Gallman was a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, who worked up and down the East Coast as a reporter and editor before settling in Lexington.

As she said in her retirement column in 2019, she had not expected to spend so much time in Lexington, but “not only is Central Kentucky a comfortable place to raise a family, this state is full of challenges, opportunities, beauty, despair, outsized characters and small-town charms. In other words: a journalist’s dream.”

Gallman and the team of editorial writers dug into many of those challenges, calling for change and support for issues that included Lexington’s fairness ordinance, smoking ban, affordable housing, Medicaid expansion and farmland preservation, to name just a few.

“We sometimes ended up on the losing sides of community debates,” Gallman wrote. “But it was not really a loss because we opened our pages to passionate discussion, becoming the equivalent of the old-time public square, where anyone could climb a platform and have a say.”

Former Lexington Mayor Jim Gray met with Gallman on numerous issues during his two terms.

“Vanessa was wicked smart and had a twinkle in her eye that let you know she knew what was going on,” Gray said on Monday. “As a journalist, she asked the right questions, keeping politicians and public officials on their toes. Always seeking the truth. Always proud and true to her profession.”

Gallman graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976 with a degree in journalism, immediately joining the Charlotte Observer as a member of the government team. At that time, there were few women and even fewer Black journalists in newspapers.

But by 1982, Gallman moved up to editing ranks at the Tallahassee Democrat, before moving to the Washington Times and the Washington Post.

Mae Israel, who met Gallman in journalism school at UNC, also worked at the Washington Post.

“Vanessa was a pioneering Black journalist, beginning her career as a reporter in 1976 when newsrooms were beginning to open their doors and hire reporters from diverse backgrounds,” Israel said. “She was a fearless and intuitive journalist, who as a reporter was dogged in getting the story and then writing it with fairness. She amplified the voices of people who often were overlooked. She was an astute editorial writer and editor whose first goal was to nudge her community to think deeply about its issues and do something about them.”

Gallman returned to reporting in 1994 when she became a national correspondent for the Knight-Ridder Washington bureau, covering urban policy, welfare reform, presidential and congressional campaigns.

In 1997, she was hired to become the editorial page editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader, then owned by Knight-Ridder. She worked there until 2019, overseeing a 2000 Pulitzer Prize for cartooning won by Joel Pett and an array of national awards for her staff of editorial writers.

“Vanessa brought a quiet wisdom to her job as editorial page editor,” said Pam Luecke, the Herald-Leader editor who hired her. “She had a strong moral compass and firmly believed that strong journalism could improve society. Lexington and the Herald-Leader were made better thanks to her conscientious research and graceful writing.”

After her retirement, Gallman wrote mostly for the Kentucky Lantern, on topics ranging from abortion bans to childcare to diversity and inclusion.

Jamie Lucke worked for Gallman for many years and is now editor of the Lantern.

“I’m grateful that Vanessa was my editor and friend,” Lucke said. “She excelled at both and is one of the best people I’ve ever known.

“There’s a lot I could say in praise of Vanessa; I’ll say this: Hemingway said writers need a built-in BS detector. Vanessa had the finest-tuned BS detector ever. She was so insightful about people and could always peg what made politicians, especially, tick. She had a gift with words and was a joy to know.”

Former Herald-Leader Editor Peter Baniak called Gallman one of the wisest journalists and people he ever knew.

“She was always thoughtful and calm but had the ability to ask the right questions to get to the heart of the matter, whether it was journalism, business, politics or policy,” Baniak said. “She always took the time to offer guidance and counsel when I first became editor, and I will be forever grateful for that.”

Jaci Carfagno, who also worked with Gallman said: “Vanessa saw the complex humanity in every one she met. She never, ever reduced anyone to a social class, a political ideology, race or other easy label. I think it was this that led so many people to trust her and confide in her.”

Gallman is survived by her daughter, Erica Stinson, four grandchildren and two sisters and a brother.

Stinson said the family will hold a memorial service at the Lyric Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM.