Two former Daily Texan staffers will be inducted into the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame on June 21 during the Texas Press Association convention in College Station.

• Libby Averyt, a Texan reporter, was a crusading reporter who stood fast against legal oppression and went on to become the Corpus Christi Caller-Times’ first female publisher. Averyt spent her entire 30-plus year journalism career at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She started on the news side, went to the advertising side and ended her career as president of the newspaper.
• The late Joe T. Cook, former Daily Texan editor, a fourth-generation newspaperman served with distinction as a journalist and in countless community and industry leadership roles. Cook, who died  in 2001 at his Corpus Christi home at age 91, was the oldest living Texas Press Association past president, having led the association from 1945-46 while he was editor and publisher of The Mission Times. Cook was Daily Texan editor in 1931-32.

Other inductees are the late Carl Estes, who used his newspapers, business skills and persuasiveness to lead Longview in its evolution from small town to industrial powerhouse; and the late Richard J.V. Johnson, who led the Houston Chronicle to become one of the nation’s largest newspapers and helped grow the Texas Medical Center of Houston into the most respected large medical complex in the world.

In addition to Averyt and Cook, other Daily Texan staff members inducted into the Hall of Fame are Cyndy Slovak Barton, Sam Fore Jr., Sarah Greene, Larry Jackson, Mary Judson, Ben Sargent and Griff Singer.

Two professionals who worked closely with The Texan have also been inducted, including the late Martin L. (Red) Gibson and the late Fred Barbee, who worked in the Texan composing room and went on to become a publisher in Lamesa and El Campo.

The inductees will be honored June 21, at the Texas Press Association convention at the Hilton College Station.

Established in 1974, the nonprofit Texas Newspaper Foundation exists to honor the past, protect the present and build the future of journalism in general and newspapers in particular as a vibrant force in democratic society.