Edward M. Baker, Publisher
1933-2004

Edward M. Baker passed away on Sunday, July 18, 2004 at the age of 70 from a massive coronary. He was born Dec. 22, 1933 in Detroit.

Mr. Baker was the publisher of the Italian Tribune, the oldest Italian American newspaper in Michigan, spanning 95 years and four generations of Italian Americans. He also published the Hall Monitor, a community entertainment newspaper serving the Hall Road corridor. Over his career, he published several different newspapers.

Mr. Baker met his wife of 47 years, Marlene (Vidusic), through a mutual friend on a blind date. The couple fell in love and were married on April 27, 1957, at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit. Early in his marriage he worked for TWA as a reservation-sales agent. He later took over the family travel Agency, Giuliano Travel, along with running the Italian Tribune with his grandparents, Maria and Vincent Giuliano.

A vital part of the Italian community in Metro-Detroit, Mr. Baker was involved in ISDA’s Santa Maria Lodge and the Americans of Italian Origin Society. In the past, he served as vice-president of the Italian American Chamber of Commerce, was on the steering committee for the Congress of American Italians and at one time was on the Board of Directors of the Italian American Cultural Center. He chaired the 1994 Columbus Day Celebration Committee and was honored as the 2003 Columbus Day Man of the Year.

He was also the founder of the Foreign Language Press Association and the Windsor Detroit Suburban Press Association. He was a member of the World Federation of Italian Press Abroad, the Michigan Press Association, the Detroit Metro News Photographers Association, the Detroit Press Club, the Warren-Sterling Heights Chamber of Commerce and the Madison Heights Chamber of Commerce.

He also served on the Military Academy Nominating Committee 14th Congressional District, the Michigan Cancer Foundation, Detroit’s Denby and Osborn High School Community Relations and Community Education Organization, Advisory Committee Deteroit Board of Education for School Financing, the Gateway Crisis Center Board of Directors and the Madison Heights Youth Assistance League and was a past-president of the Gratiot-Six Mile Improvement Association, and a past-president of the Exchange Club of Northeast Detroit.

In the past, he was a precinct delegate for the Republican National Convention and served on the President’s Advisory Committee on Tourism in America. Mr. Baker was pre-deceased by his mother, Elios (Giuliano) and his father Edward L. Baker, who served 22 years as Postmaster of Detroit.

He is survived by his loving wife, Marlene; his daughters Marilyn (Bill) Borner and Pam (Jim) White; his grandchildren Daniel and Linda Kammer and Chet White; his brothers-in-law George and Jack (Barbara) Vidusic, five nieces and nephews, and many cousins.