Digital publisher Stu Saffer, innovative Laguna entrepreneur, dies at 74
Stu Saffer, a journalist, entrepreneur and civic leader, died Saturday after complications from a surgical procedure, according to an obituary on his eponymous website, Stu News Laguna. He was 74.
Saffer had battled a progressive disease that affected his lungs. Well-regarded in Laguna circles, he was the 2016 Citizen of the Year for the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade.
“He loved this town more than anything,” Shaena Stabler, publisher and co-owner of Stu News, said. “We all feel a huge loss. He was one of a kind. He made everyone feel special and supported the nonprofits like no other.”
Saffer, who was nearly as passionate about baseball as he was about Laguna, coached Laguna Beach Little League teams for many years. He was league commissioner in 1995 and 1996.
Saffer was born in Washington, D.C., in 1942 and grew up in Middleburg, Va.
His father, a doctor, forgave debts of patients who could not afford medical care. Saffer learned the values of kindness, loyalty and giving back to the community.
Saffer earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Virginia, but due to family circumstances, did not accept the offer.
Saffer instead studied radio broadcasting and advertising sales at night at what is now George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He held two jobs, as a mailman and junior college baseball coach, to support his wife and child.
His brother Tom invited him to move to California and work with him in sales, Stabler said. Saffer passed the California Bar Exam and founded a mortgage brokerage company, all the while developing a passion for journalism.
Saffer earned a job as beat reporter with Laguna’s Coastline News. In 1998, Coastline News Editor Jerry Ledbetter offered Saffer the paper, which he and a partner bought.
In 2002, he sold the paper to the Los Angeles Times, which renamed it the Coastline Pilot, and then he started a new paper, the Laguna Beach Independent.
Saffer lost control of the Independent when an investor sold to Firebrand Media, according to a Laguna Beach Independent story. Saffer then created Stu News Laguna, modeling the format after USA Today’s website at the time. (The Coastline Pilot was later folded into the Daily Pilot.)
Saffer is survived by his daughter, Jackie Miller of Long Beach, and her sons J.R., Charlie, John and Peter; daughter Laura Law of Atlanta and her children Katherine and Will Law; sister Claudia Young of Middleburg, Va.; grandsons Ryan Lipert and Michael Lipert; and close friend Brandon Leahy of San Francisco. He was preceded in death by his two brothers, Tom and Thornton “Doc” Saffer, and daughter Liz Lipert, formerly of Capistrano Beach.
A celebration of Saffer’s life is planned for June. Further information will be provided as plans are finalized.
In lieu of flowers, Saffer’s family requests that donations be made to Laguna Beach Little League or the Friendship Shelter, two of his favorite nonprofits, or another nonprofit of your choice.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
