Industry Mourns Loss of Leading Tax Journalist Gary Klott Kristy Bremer
Tribune Media Services

(Chicago, IL, August 13, 2002) – Gary Klott, widely regarded as America's foremost tax journalist, died Saturday at his San Luis Obispo home; he was 52. Klott was a strong advocate for business reporting ethics and has been widely praised for his ability to make tax and personal finance matters easy to understand. His weekly column Your Taxes was syndicated by Tribune Media Services (TMS).

As the former tax columnist for The New York Times, his work is known to millions of readers. Since the early 1980s, his tax features and personal finance columns have appeared in hundreds of newspapers across the country.

TMS began syndicating Your Taxes in 1995. The column appears in top-market newspapers including Orange County Register (CA), St. Paul Pioneer Press, Houston Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer. CNN Moneyline is also a regular customer of Klott’s weekly column. His annual special features package, Year End Tax Tips, Daily Tax Tips and Tax Preparation, has been a staple in more than 100 papers.

"Gary's client editors had the highest regard for his weekly column, and dozens of newspapers relied on Gary's annual Tax Tips series as one of the mainstays of their tax information for readers. Gary was the consummate professional; everyone at TMS is saddened by the sudden loss," commented Walter Mahoney, vice president, Domestic Syndication for Tribune Media Services.

In January 2000, Klott founded TaxPlanet.com, a comprehensive year-round tax resource for consumers. It has been named one of the best tax sites on the Web by such publications as Forbes, Money and U.S. News and World Report. In addition to TMS’ Your Taxes, Klott wrote two other weekly columns that were syndicated to newspapers nationwide by the National Newspaper Syndicate: Money Watch and Real Estate Tax Tip.

Klott is the author of The New York Times Complete Guide to the New Tax Law (Times Books/Random House), which Money magazine rated as the best book on the Tax Reform Act of 1986. He is also considered a top authority on personal finance and investments as the author of The Complete Financial Guide to the 1990s and The New York Times Complete Guide to Personal Investing.

Before joining The New York Times in 1984, Klott was a national business and economic affairs correspondent for United Press International in New York, where he wrote extensively on taxes and personal finance and produced a popular daily broadcast feature on taxes carried by radio stations nationally.

Klott was born Oct. 4, 1949, in Chicago. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1971-74 aboard the USS Kitty Hawk as a communications officer. An accomplished pianist, Klott once formed a 22-member jazz band. He also composed musical pieces to be performed at Jewish services. He graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1971.

Klott’s wife, Sandra J. Duerr, is executive editor of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, CA. Tribune Media Services

A midcareer scholarship focusing on business journalism ethics is being established in Klott’s name. Contributions may be mailed to the Gary L. Klott midcareer scholarship in business journalism, payable to SABEW, Missouri School of Journalism, 134 Neff Annex, Columbia, Mo., 65211-1200. Write “Gary L. Klott Scholarship Fund” on the check memo line.

Go back to Gary Klott: Words and Memories