Alaska journalist, Joplin native, dead at 81

Joplin native Bill Tobin, who had a long and successful career in journalism, mostly in Alaska, died today at age 81:

Tobin accompanied Vice President Richard Nixon and his family on a tour of Alaska just before statehood in 1958. He was with Sen. John Kennedy during his campaign stops in 1960 when Alaskans for the first time voted in U.S. elections.
Tobin later wrote that covering the statehood campaign and the vote for statehood "was a thrilling job for me."
In 1960, Tobin was named the AP's assistant bureau chief in Baltimore. A year later, he became bureau chief in Helena, Mont.
By that time, Tobin was married with three sons and the frequent moves were hard on family life. When he thought about where he wanted to make his permanent home, it was Alaska.
In 1963, he called Robert "Bob" Atwood, the owner of the Anchorage Times, and asked if there was a job for him in Alaska. Atwood offered him managing editor and Tobin accepted, eventually becoming editor-in-chief and assistant publisher of the newspaper. Tobin stayed with the Times until it ceased publication in 1992.