Kenneth Tomlinson - Biography

Biography

A native of Grayson County, Virginia, Tomlinson began his career in journalism working as a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 1965. In 1968 he joined the Washington bureau of Reader's Digest.

He was a correspondent in Vietnam, and co-authored the book P.O.W., a history of American prisoners of war in the Vietnam War. In 1977 and 1978, he worked out of the Digest's Paris bureau covering events in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Tomlinson married Rebecca Moore Tomlinson, a former congressional aide to Bill Stuckey and Sonny Montgomery, in 1975. They have been married ever since and live at Springbrook Farm in Fauquier County, Virginia, and have two sons. William M. Tomlinson graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2000 and is a sports producer for ESPNews. Lucas Y. Tomlinson was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and a 2001 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, who currently works as a military consultant for Booz Allen in Washington D.C.

In September 1982, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be his fourth Director of the Voice of America (VOA), where he served through August 1984. Some of the Reagan Administration's innovations for the Voice, such as the advent of editorials extolling Administration policy, stirred opposition and fears that the broadcasts could be seen as propaganda.

"Someone complained that your editorials sound just like Ronald Reagan," Mr. Tomlinson said, "and I said you're darn right and I'm proud of it. The editorials should reflect the viewpoint of the party in power."

In October 1986, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be the fourth chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), where he served until May 1987.

In May 1987, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be a member of the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) where he served until 1994 when the BIB was dissolved by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 and replaced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Tomlinson became a close friend of Karl Rove while they served together on the BIB after President Bush nominated Rove to be a member of the BIB in 1989.

Following his work at VOA, Tomlinson returned to Reader's Digest as managing editor in 1984. He was named executive editor in 1985 and became editor-in-chief in 1989.

Tomlinson was the Virginia Press Association's Virginian of the Year in 1994 and is a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.

Tomlinson retired as editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest in 1996. After moving to Virginia soon after, Tomlinson was named president and director of the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia in 1999.