Martin Northway

Martin Northway, 72, of Fulton, a widely published free-lance writer, editor, and journalist died on Friday, November 6, 2020, at Fulton Presbyterian Manor. Martin served as chairman of the Kingdom of Callaway Civil War Heritage. His work was instrumental in the development of the Gray Ghost Trail Sites in Callaway County. He was also a proud member of the Sons of Confederacy Organization. He was editor of a weekly community newspaper on the North Side of Chicago, Inside, and for many years he was widely known as a free-lance writer whose articles appeared both nationally and regionally. Many of these stories involved his life-long interests in history, the arts, and the American South. He worked on a social history based on the stories of his extended family in Missouri. He was also working on collections of his short stories and published essays. From 1990 to 1997 he was the editor of the free, monthly Chicago arts journal Strong Coffee, which during his tenure published the art and writing of more than 500 contributors. For 12 years he was also president of a small regional publishing company, The Highland Press, of Nashville, Ind., and then Evanston, Ill., and from 1976 to 1979 worked for the weekly Brown County Democrat in Nashville, Ind., where he served first as reporter and then managing editor and was recognized for the quality of his reporting by the Hoosier State Press Association. Born in Kenosha, Wis., in 1947, he was the son of Leonard E. and the late Mary (Kleszewski) Northway. He did much of his growing up in Jefferson City, Mo., area and was a graduate of that city's high school. He studied American history at the University of Chicago, where he also edited an alternative weekly newspaper and was a member and officer of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. His former wife, the former Nancy Feller of Belleville, Wis., preceded him in death. He is survived by his children, Heather and Andrew; sisters, Cynthia (Mrs. Omer) Long, Debra (Mrs. Marc) DeJarlais, and Shelly (Mrs. Donald) Christian; and grandchildren, Harmony, Montrez, Lawrence, and Lamar. The deceased has many relatives in both central Missouri and southeastern Wisconsin. No services are planned at this time.