Edmund James"Ed"Anderson

Ed Anderson passed away Thursday, May 28, 2015, at the Promise Hospital at Baton Rouge General-Mid City. He was 67. He was born and raised in New Orleans, where he attended St. Matthias Elementary School, De La Salle High School and Loyola University. While at Loyola, he worked for and served as editor of The Maroon, the student newspaper. After graduating from Loyola with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1969, he went to work for The Times-Picayune as a general assignment reporter. Over the next several years, he covered everything from state and local elections, politics, state and federal courts, and the Legislature to city hall, urban affairs, and real estate and business. He also served as assistant night city editor and night city editor for three years. In 1988, he moved to the newspaper's permanent Baton Rouge bureau to cover state government, politics and the Legislature. During his 24 years in the bureau, he covered the administrations of six governors-Dave Treen, Buddy Roemer, Edwin Edwards, Mike Foster, Kathleen Blanco and Bobby Jindal. As part of his job, he dealt daily with elected officials and heads of state agencies, as well as with their public affairs representatives and staffs, developing a reputation as a tough but fair reporter. He was equally at ease talking with lobbyists and ordinary citizens as he teased out the details of stories. His work earned him many honors, including writing awards from the Press Club of New Orleans, the Associated Press Managing Editors of Louisiana and Mississippi, United Press International of Louisiana and the Louisiana Press Association. He received the Press Club of New Orleans' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and was part of the news team that won two Pulitzer Prizes in 2006-for Meritorious Public Service and for Breaking News-for its coverage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2013, he went to work for the Legislative Auditor's Office, where he helped edit often complex, highly technical audit reports so that they could be more easily understood by officials and members of the public alike. He was a 2007 graduate of the Leadership Louisiana program run by the Council for a Better Louisiana and a 1979 fellow at the Institute of Politics at Loyola University in New Orleans. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola from 1980 to 1987, where he taught classes in Beginning Reporting and Urban Affairs Reporting. He was a devoted New Orleans Saints fan, attending the very first game the Saints played in New Orleans, as well as the first game the team played in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, and he had season tickets for years. He was also an avid follower of LSU sports, particularly the football and baseball teams. He loved to travel, especially for weekend getaway trips to the beach or to towns like Fairhope, Alabama, or Natchez, Mississippi. He was also a big fan of day trips to explore Louisiana's small towns and countryside. He is survived by his partner of 20 years, Karen Rowley, and a brother and sister-in-law, Craig and Gayle Anderson of Metairie. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edmund James and Rita Betz Anderson Sr. Visitation will be Tuesday, June 2, 2015, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Government Street. A Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, June 3, 2015, at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Baton Rouge. There will be visitation at the church beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending when the Mass starts. Interment will be Thursday, June 4, 2015, at Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery in Metairie, with a graveside service at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Loyola University New Orleans, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank or a favorite charity.