William "Bill" Shover

William “Bill” Shover’s forty-year career at the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette is legendary. His first newspaper job was with the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News where he met larger-than-life publisher, Eugene Pulliam. It was the beginning of a friendship that would change his life. In 1962, Pulliam asked Bill Shover to move to Phoenix with the mandate to involve the newspaper in improving the community. After Eugene Pulliam died in 1975, Bill Shover worked with his widow, Nina Pulliam, to continue the newspaper’s commitment to the community. Among many endeavors, Mr. Shover led the campaign to return the anchor of the World War II battleship, the USS Arizona, from Pearl Harbor to a place of pride at the Arizona State Capitol; was a key player in the effort to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in Arizona; and coordinated the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Arizona He was also one of a group of local businessmen who spearheaded the creation of the Fiesta Bowl in 1968, helped launch the Phoenix Suns, and he chaired the effort to bring Super Bowl XXX to Tempe. Bill Shover retired from the newspaper in 1998.