Thomas M. Storke

Thomas More Storke (November 23, 1876 – October 12, 1971) was an American journalist, politician, postmaster, and publisher. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. Storke also served as an interim United States senator, appointed to serve between the resignation of William Gibbs McAdoo in November 1938 and the January 1939 swearing-in of Sheridan Downey, who had been elected to succeed McAdoo.

Early life and journalism career

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Storke grew up bilingual in Spanish and English. His parents were eminent local citizen and politician Charles A. Storke and his wife, the former Martha "Mattie" More. His maternal grandmother was Rafaela Ortega, a Mexican from Santa Barbara, who in turn was the granddaughter of early Alta California settler José Francisco Ortega. As a child, he attended public schools in Santa Barbara. He moved on to Stanford University one year early, and graduated with a degree in economics in 1898 at age 21.

In 1900, Storke borrowed $2,000 and bought the Santa Barbara Daily Independent, the least favored newspaper in town. In 1909, he sold the outlet to get into the oil business and purchased the Santa Barbara Daily News in 1913. The spring prior, he was appointed as the Santa Barbara postmaster. Storke readopted the Daily Independent and combined that with the Daily News to birth the Santa Barbara Daily News & Independent. Years later, Storke bought The Morning Press, Santa Barbara's third paper. He later combined the two to create The Santa Barbara News-Press. After 23 years, it was sold for nearly $10 million to the publisher of The Philadelphia Bulletin.

Contributions Storke used his political clout to help obtain the present UCSB campus, over 900 coastal acres (3.6 km2) and a former military installation, from the US Government under the college land grant program.

Part of Storke's lasting legacy is Storke Tower, a 190-foot structure in the center of the UCSB campus, being the tallest tower in the county as well as the only five-octave chromatic bell system.

Beneath Storke Tower is the Storke Communication Plaza, which houses the offices of the campus Daily Nexus newspaper and the studios of community radio station KCSB-FM.