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2000-01 Alvin Holley Polk County Publishing

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Alvin Holley, 123rd president, earned his Texas Press Association Golden 50 Award in 2000, the same year he was elected TPA president.

A native of Corsicana, Holley began his newspaper career at age 10 as a carrier for the Corsicana Daily Sun.

After selling newspapers on the streets for a number of years, Holley was offered an office job with the Sun.

While working for the Corsicana Daily Sun, Holley moved through the ranks as circulation manager, advertising manager and general manager. In 1972 he and another employee of the Sun, David Durham, bought Polk County Publishing Co. in Livingston. At the time, the company owned and operated the Polk County Enterprise in Livingston, San Jacinto News-Times in Coldspring and Shepherd, and Lake Livingston Progress.

In September 1972 Holley and Durham purchased The Groveton News and in March 1973 they added The Trinity Standard to the group. As East Texas grew, so did Polk County Publishing Co., which now includes The Corrigan Times, The Houston County Courier in Crockett and The Tyler County Booster in Woodville. The company also publishes a number of free distribution weeklies, including The Big Thicket Messenger in Liberty County and The Pennysaver in Polk County.

Holley bought his partner’s interest in the company and serves as publisher of all seven of the newspapers, which serve a five-county area.

He was president of Texas Gulf Coast Press Association in 1986-87. He was inducted into the Texas Newspaper Foundation in 2008. He received TPA's Golden 50 Award in 2000.