We are delighted to share some good news about the future of The Coastal Star.
We’re welcoming Harvey Oyer III as a shareholder in the ownership of our publishing company. Our newspaper has been locally owned and operated since we published our first edition in November 2008.
As we think about the future of our newspaper, we very much want to maintain our local roots. Harvey is, of course, as local as you can get. He is joining the ownership of our company to help us ensure the longevity and continued excellence of our publication.
Harvey is probably known to many of you, or at least his family name is. He is a fifth generation native of Palm Beach County, his ancestors having planted the coconuts from the wreck of the Spanish ship Providencia in 1878 that gave the county its name.
His great-great-grandparents homesteaded on Hypoluxo Island in 1873 and his great-grandmother in 1876 was the first non-Native American child born in southeast Florida. Later, in the 1890s, his great-grandparents brought Maj. Nathan Boynton, William Linton and David Swinton to our area, which led to the creation of the cities of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach.
Harvey’s father was the mayor of Boynton Beach who had a waterfront park named in his honor.
Harvey loves our history and shares our same core values of community and freedom of speech.
He was a writer for his college newspaper and is an accomplished author, who has written five bestselling children’s books that are used throughout Florida to teach elementary school students Florida history. His books have received numerous awards and Harvey was named Florida’s Distinguished Author in 2013.
Harvey is passionate about historic preservation and led the effort to save and restore the county’s historic 1916 Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. He also led the effort to create the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum at the courthouse, restore historic Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, and most recently, restore the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace. He served seven terms as chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.
Harvey was elected Phi Beta Kappa when he graduated with high honors at the University of Florida, and was selected the Most Outstanding Male Leader of the Class of 1990. He has been inducted into both the UF student hall of fame and the UF alumni Academy of Golden Gators.
After further study at The Australian National University as a Rotary International Scholar, and earning a master’s degree in archaeology at the University of Cambridge, England, Harvey returned to UF and received a Juris Doctor with honors from the College of Law. He also served honorably in the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of captain.
He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1998, and is a partner in the Shutts & Bowen law firm.
Local ownership is critical
We believe the long-term future of community journalism is based on the commitment that owners have to the ongoing success of their local publications. The Coastal Star’s current owners have each lived in our coastal communities for more than 40 years. Mary Kate Leming — my wife and the paper’s semi-retired executive editor — and I founded the paper in 2008. Chris Bellard, our advertising director, along with Price Patton and his wife, Carolyn, a Delray Beach native, became part of the company's ownership in 2011.
As Harvey joins The Coastal Star team, its mission to produce strong local journalism remains the same as always.
Harvey is a noted local attorney who represents a broad range of clients. If Harvey or his firm is included in a Coastal Star story, we will — as we always do — include full disclosure in the story so our readers are aware of the relationship.
Succession planning is an important task for business owners, and I can tell you that we have been looking for the next owners of The Coastal Star for a few years. Harvey’s involvement will give our staff and this community a sense of security that a sale to faraway owners would not provide.
We hope it will also provide stability for our advertisers and satisfy the expectation of meaningful community journalism for our readers for years to come.
— Jerry Lower, Publisher
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