Former R-G editor/reporter Mike Forrester dies at age 86

Mike Forrester, a third-generation owner of Oregon’s former EO Media Group who spent some of his early years as a journalist working for The Register-Guard County Desk, died Feb. 3 in Bend at the age of 86 from Parkinson’s disease.

During his long career Forrester served as editor of The Daily Astorian, the East Oregonian in Pendleton and the Capital Press in Salem, of which he was also publisher.

Born in Corvallis, Mike was the son of J. W. Forrester and Eleanor Aldrich Forrester. His younger brother, Steve, is the remaining third-generation owner of the family’s newspaper company.

Mike graduated from Pendleton High School in 1956 and from the University of Oregon in 1960. A unique aspect of his education was his serving as a U.S. Senate page. He was sponsored by Oregon Sen. Richard Neuberger and was the first Senate page from Oregon in 40 years.

In later years, he spoke of observing Vice President Richard Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy up close. Drawn to Kennedy’s charisma, he organized Students for Kennedy at the University of Oregon during the 1960 presidential campaign.

At Oregon he ran the hurdles for two years for legendary track and field coach Bill Bowerman and received the Doyle Higdon award recognizing accomplishments in athletics and academics. He was co-editor of the Oregon Daily Emerald student newspaper his junior year.

Prior to joining the family company, Mike worked for the Coos Bay World, The Register-Guard and The Associated Press in Los Angeles, where he interviewed Cassius Clay prior to his becoming Muhammad Ali.

He became editor of The Daily Astorian on Jan. 1, 1969, and married Mary Buchanan Gramson of Warrenton. They had a son, Robert Aldrich Forrester, and adopted Melissa Gramson.

In 1973 Mike’s family moved to Pendleton, where he became editor of the East Oregonian, and his father and mother moved to Astoria, where his father took over as editor of the Astoria newspaper.

Mike once told an interviewer, “I had a type A personality and a lot of journalistic passion. I loved it so much. I overdid things. I put in long hours. I was pretty obsessive/compulsive. I regret I was hard on journalists and didn’t trust their instincts. They did good work.”

After 17 years in Pendleton, Mike moved to Salem to become editor of the Capital Press, which the family had recently acquired.

He and Mary divorced while in Pendleton and Mike married Pamela Holfert Collins in 1989. They moved from Salem back to Pendleton in 2019, then to Bend to be closer to Pam’s son and his family. She died in 2021.

Mike’s father died in 2000 and his mother in 2007. The family company, EO Media, sold to Carpenter Media Group in 2024.

— Tribune News Service