Zakarian named NCEW life member.

John J. Zakarian, editorial page editor and vice president of The Hartford Courant, has been elected a life member of the National Conference of Editorial Writers for his many contributions to the organization, including serving as president in 1976.

Zakarian was to have been recognized at cancelled convention in Pittsburgh. He will be honored at the 2002 convention in Nashville, the site of his first convention in 1967.

Zakarian said, "The recognition is a wonderful surprise and a great honor. Receiving such notice from one's peers in intoxicating, indeed. NCEW represents the soul of opinion journalism, much as editorial pages are referred to as the conscience of a newspaper. My colleagues have taught me a lot over three decades. I have used NCEW's statement of principles as my compass and have inflicted it on writers and editors at every newspaper I tolled at."

Zakarian has attended 18 conventions, chaired the membership and professional committees, and served on several other committees. He was secretary of NCEW in 1973, then served as treasurer and vice president before assuming the presidency in 1976.