Allan Lazarus

Allan Matthew Lazarus​ (Journalist with The Shreveport Times," 1944 to 1991).'
Born	November 21, 1927​ New Orleans, Louisiana, USA​ Resident of Shreveport, Louisiana​
Died	​May 18, 2020 (aged 92) Shreveport, Louisiana Resting place: Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport
Spouse	Martha Ellis Lazarus (married 1946-2017, her death) Children: Kenneth Wayne Lazarus Virginia Lynn Lazarus ​ Parents: ​ Harry Adolph, Sr., and Edna Wodiker Lazarus
Religion	Roman Catholic Alma mater: Fair Park High School Centenary College of Louisiana​

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Allan Matthew Lazarus, known as Laz Lazarus (November 21, 1927 – May 18, 2020),was for twenty-one years the managing editor of The Shreveport Times in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Born in New Orleans to Harry Adolph Lazarus, Sr. (1896-1972), and the former Edna M. Wodiker (1899-1988), Lazarus moved with his parents and brother, Harry Lazarus, Jr. (1920-2016), to Shreveport when he was seven years old. He graduated in 1944 from the former Fair Park High School and in 1951 from the private Centenary College of Louisiana, both institutions located in Shreveport. From 1946 to 1947, he served in the United States Army Air Corps, forerunner of the Air Force.

Lazarus joined The Shreveport Times in 1944 as 17-year-old copy boy and retired in 1990 at the age of sixty-four as the managing editor. Before the editorship, he had worked as a reporter, copy editor, sportswriter, telegraph editor, and news editor. He was a former president of the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Association and a board member of the AP Managing Editors Association. He was a charter member and president of the ArkLaTex chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, later named the Society of Professional Journalists. In 1967, he began writing "A Nit-Picker's Notebook," a critique indicating spelling, grammar, and style errors for the staff. In I982, "A Nit-Picker's Notebook became a regular column in The Times and ran until 2014, long after Lazarus had retired.

Judy Christie, a former Times editor called Lazarus "the finest wordsmith I ever knew and an editor until the very end. He said his interest in grammar and typos began at birth when his first name was misspelled ... on his birth certificate.. Kathie Coffey Rowell, a former Times features editor, said that Lazarus "wanted your best, but he got it by coaching, not criticizing. One of the most important things I learned from him - details count, no matter how small." As the news editor in July 1969, he came into the office from his vacation to write the head line of Neil Armstrong's walk on the surface of the moon. He noted that Armstrong mistakenly left out the article "a" when he said "one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."

In his later years, Lazarus wrote poetry which he sent to former staffers. In 2017, Lazarus was predeceased by his wife of seventy-one years, the former Martha Elizabeth Ellis (1928-2017). The couple had two children, Kenneth Wayne Lazarus and Virginia Lynn Lazarus. His funeral mass was held at the Roman Catholic St. Johns Berchmans Cathedral, with Father Duane Trombetta officiating. He is interred at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport.

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