Mac Sebree

George McClelland Sebree III (August 26, 1932 – March 7, 2010), better known as Mac Sebree, was an American journalist, writer and publisher whose area of expertise was urban mass transit, particularly urban rail transit. He was also a businessman, being owner and president of the publishing company, Interurban Press, from 1975 until 1993. In addition to writing and publishing historical material, he also followed – and regularly reported on – contemporary developments concerning rail transit, and by the 1990s he had become an expert on light rail in North America. and graduated from the university in 1956 with a bachelor of arts degree.

First career He worked as a newspaperman from 1955 until 1982, the UPI stint lasting 11 years. He was employed as a reporter for two Albuquerque newspapers, the Albuquerque Journal and The Albuquerque Tribune, and for the Avalanche-Journal, of Lubbock, Texas. He began working for the Avalanche-Journal in August 1955. (United Press became United Press International the following year.) In 1961, at age 28, Sebree was appointed as UPI's manager for the state of Oklahoma. For several years he additionally worked as a salesman for a syndicated service providing illustrations for newspaper advertisements, the Stamps-Conhaim Creative Newspaper Advertising Service. He moved to Southern California in the late 1960s.

Transit writing and publishing In 1975, Sebree inherited from his friend Ira Swett a small publishing company named Interurbans, which published books about streetcars and interurban electric railways. A longtime railfan, particularly of streetcars and trolleybuses, Sebree had already done some writing and editing for Interurbans, including co-authoring the books, Transit's Stepchild: The Trolley Coach (LCCN 73-84356) and The Trolley Coach in North America (LCCN 74-20367), in 1973 and 1974, respectively. Sebree renamed the business "Interurban Press" and, after adding a partner, Jim Walker (as vice president), expanded the company's output. and The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg (1999).

In 1993, Sebree retired from full-time work, sold Interurban Press to Pentrex and moved from southern California to Vancouver, Washington. From his Vancouver home, he worked part-time as a transit consultant.

He was the "International Editor" (one of the contributing editors) for the quarterly New Electric Railway Journal from fall 1996 until the cessation of publication of that magazine, in late 1998. His contributions to TNERJ also included articles on New Orleans' plans to expand its heritage streetcar system, as well as on light rail and streetcars in Australia, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

In 2001, G. Mac Sebree introduced a new, monthly news column on rail transit in Trains magazine, entitled "City Rail", to report developments related to light rail, streetcars, rapid transit and commuter rail in North America, and he was the column's author/editor until 2003.

Philanthropy In 2005, Sebree donated $20,000 to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (based in Sacramento, California), to establish a trust fund to provide permanent support for publication of the organization's longtime journal, Railroad History. In 2008 Sebree donated $10,000, and pledged $90,000 more, to the Orange Empire Railway Museum to support the construction of a permanent library and archive building.

Death Mac Sebree died on March 7, 2010, at his home in Vancouver, Washington.