Douglas Arthur Ramsey

Douglas Arthur Ramsey, a Yakima resident since 1997, died on May 19, 2026 at the age of 91. He was an author, print and broadcast journalist, educator and internationally recognized jazz critic. His broadcast news career began at KIMA Radio and TV. In Yakima, he married Charlene Lindberg.

Doug went on to be a television anchor, correspondent and news executive in Cleveland, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City; San Antonio, Texas; and San Francisco, California. As chief correspondent of UPI Television News (UPITN), he covered the White House, Water Gate and the United Nations.

He was senior vice president of the Foundation for American Communications (FACS), responsible for educating professional journalists in coverage issues including economics, science, law, ethics, foreign affairs and the environment. He wrote frequently on journalism subjects. His op-ed pieces appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Seattle Times and other publications. Under the United States Information Agency’s U.S. Speakers Program, he lectured in Germany and Eastern Europe on the role of a free press in a democratic society and conducted FACS programs for journalists in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ramsey was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Credibility Task Force.

Doug was born in Choteau, Montana, on October 3, 1934. He grew up in Wenatchee and graduated in journalism from the University of Washington. Following a year as a reporter and copy editor at The Seattle Times, he entered the United States Marine Corps, serving in Virginia and Japan. He emerged with the rank of captain.

He began writing about music in his college years. He was widely published in jazz magazines, contributes to The Wall Street Journal, was a contributing editor of Texas Monthly and wrote a column for The Dallas Morning News. He was the author of Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, which won the ASCAP Creed Taylor Award and the best-book award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He was presented with the Jazz Journalists Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His novel Poodie James, set in Washington’s apple country, was published in 2007.

A trumpeter from the age of 13, Doug played all his life. He was an avid runner, cyclist, photographer, reader and appreciator of good wine. He is survived by his wife Charlene and their son Paul. There will be no funeral service.

Keith and Keith is entrusted with arrangements.