Inducted: 2019

BRIAN BLANSETT (1952- ), a native of Fitzhugh, knew as a third-grader that he wanted to be a newspaperman and he considered himself among the highly fortunate for getting to live his boyhood dream. He won a variety of writing, reporting and photography awards, including the Oklahoma Press Association’s sweepstakes award for best editorial in 2015. He was city editor at the Waco, Texas, Tribune-Herald during the assault and siege at the Branch Davidian compound in 1993 and directed his newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the events. He retired in 2014 but soon discovered he had no knack for it. Six months later he bought the Tri-County Herald newspaper in Meeker and turned it into a consistent Sequoyah Award winner. He taught as an adjunct at Baylor University and Oklahoma Baptist University and was elected to the North Rock Creek board of education. He is a graduate of Latta High School and East Central University, a past president of the Oklahoma Press Association and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the 45th Infantry.