Elizabeth Scripps "Nackey" Loeb (February 24, 1924 – January 8, 2000) was an American newspaper publisher. Her paternal grandfather was the namesake of the E. W. Scripps Company. Her second husband, William Loeb III, was publisher of the Manchester Union Leader newspaper of Manchester, New Hampshire, for 35 years. Upon his death in 1981, Nackey Loeb became publisher and served in that role until 1999.
Biography
Nackey Loeb was born in Los Angeles on February 24, 1924, as Elizabeth Anne Scripps.[1]: 30 Her parents were Robert Paine Scripps and Margaret Lou Culbertson.[2][3] She was always known as Nackey, a name "given to generations of Scripps women".[1]: 29 Her paternal grandfather, newspaper titan E. W. Scripps, founded the E. W. Scripps Company. Her father died in 1938, shortly after her 14th birthday.[4] She attended Francis Parker School in San Diego,[2] then Scripps College, which had been founded by her great-aunt, Ellen Browning Scripps.[5]
In 1944, Nackey[a] married George Gallowhur;[6] inventor of Skol suntan lotion.[7] The couple (she used Scripps-Gallowhur as her last name) had one daughter; they divorced in November 1949.[2]
Nackey helped her husband run the Union Leader for decades until his death in 1981.[12] She then succeeded him as publisher,[13] and served until that role until stepping down in May 1999, shortly before her death.[14] She died on January 8, 2000,[15] at her home in Goffstown, New Hampshire.[16]
Legacy
In 1999, she founded the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, a private non-profit school.[17] Annually, the school issues a First Amendment Award.[18] The organization retained majority ownership of the Union Leader newspaper until January 2025.[19][20]
On May 1, 2022, Nackey's daughter from her marriage to George Gallowhur—Nackey E. Gallowhur-Scagliotti—accused her stepfather, William Loeb, of sexually molesting her when she was 7 years old. The Union Leader denounced William Loeb and removed his name from their masthead in response to the accusations.[21]
Notes
^Due to surname changes over time, "Nackey" is used for clarity in this article.
^In August 1949, Loeb had been sued by Gallowhur for having "alienated the affection" of Nackey.[8]
References
^ abHeckman, Meg (2020). Political Godmother: Nackey Scripps Loeb and the Newspaper That Shook the Republican Party. Potomac Books. ISBN978-1640121935.
