John South Lewis was born in Woodville in 1914, the son of the late Robert Lewis and Helen Latane Lewis.
Following his graduation from the University of Mississippi in 1935 he returned to Woodville to work for his mother, who was interim editor of The Woodville Republican following her husband’s death in 1934. In 1938 he was elevated to the position of editor, becoming the third generation of his family to occupy the editorial chair. At that time he was Mississippi’s youngest editor of the state’s oldest newspaper, established in 1824.
Lewis has continued his connection with the newspaper, with the exception of a four-year tour of duty with the U.S. Navy during World War II. In his Navy career he served as an aerial navigator in the States and in the Pacific theater. He retired from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Lewis is a past president of the Mississippi Press Association, serving in the association’s centennial year, 1965, 58 years after his father served as president in 1907.
In 1984 Lewis was replaced as editor by his son, Andrew J. Lewis, and assumed the title of publisher emeritus while continuing to write his weekly column. He died in 2003.
