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John L. Procope, former 'N.Y. Amsterdam News' publisher, dies at 82
By Jennifer 8. Lee
The N.Y. Times
(July 18, 2005) John L. Procope, an entrepreneur and former publisher of The New York Amsterdam News, died on Friday. He was 82 and lived in Queens. The cause was complications from pneumonia, according to E. G. Bowman Co., where he had served as chairman.
Mr. Procope, a graduate of Morgan State University, was a marketing and advertising executive at several companies before he joined a consortium that bought The Amsterdam News, a black newspaper based in Harlem, in 1971. He was one of six co-owners of the newspaper when he succeeded Clarence B. Jones as publisher in 1974.
After the 1977 blackout and the resultant looting, Mr. Procope broke the traditional restraint of vocal criticism against other prominent blacks.
He published a blistering front-page editorial that contended that there was a "massive vacuum of leadership in the black communities across the city."
The editorial said that since black leaders "hadn't exercised real leadership prior to the blackout, there was no established communication with our young people to use as a base for communication when the looters began."
He was appointed chairman of the seven-member Emergency Aid Commission, which disbursed about $3 million in grants to businesses hurt by the looting.
In the late 1970's, two co-owners of The Amsterdam News tried to remove Mr. Procope as publisher, saying that business contracts his wife, Ernesta G. Procope, had with the city resulted in a conflict of interest - a contention the Procopes denied.
Mr. Procope left the newspaper in 1982 to focus on E. G. Bowman, an insurance company that had been founded by his wife that was one of the first major African-American-owned businesses on Wall Street. The company's client list started with underserved Brooklyn homeowners but grew to include Fortune 500 companies.
Mr. Procope and his wife were a driving force behind the creation of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plan in 1968 to help make insurance available to all residents of New York State. He and his wife were also highly visible in political and philanthropic circles.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sisters, Dr. Jean Martin of Bloomfield, Conn.; and Jonelle Terrell of Manhattan.
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Tuesday, July 26th 2005 at 1:00AM
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