Summary
Rollan Melton grew up in Fallon, Nevada and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno. At 15 he began working as a printer's devil and club reporter at the Fallon Standard. He joined the Reno Evening Gazette as a sports editor in 1957, becoming publisher of both the Gazette and the Nevada State Journal in 1966. In 1972 he became president of the Speidel newspaper group, and was named senior vice president of Gannett newspaper chain when it merged with Speidel in 1977. He resigned from his position in 1979, but continued to write his column until his death in 2002.