Gordon B. Seavey was a journalist and Westford town historian. He was a lifelong resident of Westford and an institution in it. The town’s oldest resident, he was among its keenest minds. He once estimated he had circled the globe twice.
Mr. Seavey’s curriculum vitae summarized his life as a journalist for over 70 years. World traveler.”
And that he was. Mr. Seavey was born in Westford and graduated from Westford Academy in 1922, where he became a trustee for a half-century. He graduated from Lowell Commercial College and studied journalism at Boston University. He was also a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.
Mr. Seavey worked at a fruit company in Cuba before founding an Oldsmobile dealership in Arlington in 1933. He bought the Belmont Citizen in 1939 and served as its publisher for 32 years.
He served as president of the National Newspaper Association, an organization representing small-town newspapers. In that job, he traveled extensively, to every continent except Antarctica. Mr. Seavey was co-founder of the New England Weekly Press Association and past president of the Massachusetts Press Association.
In a recent Globe interview, Mr. Seavey explained the subtleties of being the publisher of a small-town newspaper. “We always wrote something mild in the editorials. You can’t step on people’s toes in a small town,” he observed.
Mr. Seavey never fully retired. He continued to contribute articles for local newspapers, usually about the history of his beloved Westford. His fascination with history made him a pillar in the local community. He was a fixture in his top hat at the Apple Blossom Festival.
As he grew older, he found it more difficult to corroborate local history. “I can’t go to anybody now to verify certain things because I’m too old,” Mr. Seavey noted ruefully. “There are too few people left who remember.”
Below is a collection of newspaper articles that explore the background and character of Gordon B. Seavey