Paul R. Ryan

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received word of the death
July 13, 2006 of former Oceanus editor Paul R. Ryan at Falmouth Hospital of complications
from diabetes. He was 74.

Paul Ryder Ryan was born January 5, 1932 in Mineola, NY. He attended
Rye High School in Rye, NY, graduating in 1949, and served in the U.S.
Air Force from 1950 to 1954 as a flight engineer during the Korean War.
He took English courses at Boston University in 1955 and 1956 before
moving to Mexico City, where he pursued studies in philosophy at Mexico
City College from 1956 to 1959.

While in Mexico City he began working for El Universal
as editor of the English language section, and in 1961 founded the
Caribbean and Latin American News Service, which supplied stories to
major newspapers worldwide. When adequate financial backing forced the
news agency to close in September 1962, Paul Ryan moved to Puerto Rico,
where the agency had a staff of 15, and began working in various
positions at The San Juan Star. After working briefly as an editor for The Boston Globe,
he took a position at Reuters in London in September 1963, working
mainly as a news editor on the North American desk. In September 1965
he began working in Paris as a reporter and editor on the news desks
for the international editions of both The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, and found time to take courses at The Sorbonne.

While in Paris Paul Ryan began writing fiction, and during his life he
completed five novels.  He also helped write and was an actor in
“The War Game”, which won the Academy Award in 1967 for best foreign
film. He moved to New York for a year as copy editor on the foreign and
national desks of The New York Times,
but returned to Europe in December 1968 as assistant to the news
director of Radio Free Europe, moving with his family to Munich. Two
years later he moved back to New York to pursue his interest in writing
and the arts, accepting the position of managing editor of The Drama Review
at the New York University (NYU) School of the Arts in April
1971.  He was later promoted to executive editor of the magazine,
responsible for all aspects of the magazine’s production. He also
lectured at the NYU journalism school and took courses at the
university.

In the summer of 1976 Paul Ryan and his family moved to Cape Cod, and
he joined the Institution staff in September of that year as associate
editor of Oceanus magazine,
working with editor Bill MacLeish. In 1980 he was promoted to managing
editor, and in 1982 he was named editor.  While the international
and ocean science community focus of the magazine kept him busy, Paul
found time during his years in Woods Hole to act in local drama
productions, write poetry, and take night courses at Harvard
University, completing a bachelor’s degree in social sciences through
extension studies in 1981. He also pursued his love of boating and
fishing, chess and art.

Paul took a nine-month leave of absence from Oceanus
magazine in 1988 and 1989 to participate in a Fulbright Fellowship in
Japan, pursuing his interest in U.S.-Japan marine  studies while
journalist Frederic Golden served as interim editor of the magazine.
Paul
returned to WHOI in June 1989. In 1990 the magazine won an Ozzie award,
presented annually by Folio for publication design excellence.

In September 1990 Paul left the Institution to become editor of
editorial services at the Institute for Scientific Information in
Philadelphia. He later moved back to Asia, working first in China as a
foreign correspondent for the Pacific Rim News Agency at the Shanghai Star and China Daily.
He was awarded a Knight International Press Fellowship in 1995 and
traveled to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Nepal as a
newspaper consultant to help train young reporters. He also conducted
journalism training workshops in Bangladesh for the Bangladesh Centre
for Development, Journalism and Communications in 1999.

Paul Ryan was a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Overseas Press Club, and was listed in Who’s Who in America in 1992-1993 and Who’s Who in the World in 2001.
   
Survivors include two daughters, Liane “Polly”
Ryan-Lane of Plainfield, MA, and Bethann Ryan of Falmouth, MA; two
sons, Paul “Tad” R. Ryan III of Falmouth, MA and Michael Ryan of Woods
Hole, MA; four grandchildren; and his former wife, Ruthann Hellfach.

A memorial service will be held during the fall in
Cummington, MA, where Paul spent many of his final years.