Bob Sales has his fingerprints all over this paper. He was one of the editors who transformed the Herald into a tabloid in 1981, setting us apart in a paradigm shift that continues to fuel our journalism today. Brevity and stunning photography, along with scoops and compelling headlines, click on the newsstands and online.

Bob was among a few editors who studied the popularity of the old Herald American and pivoted to what readers craved. If you want it sugar-coated, buy a donut, as our old billboard stated — and that’s what he envisioned: a paper without bias that let readers see all sides and make up their own minds.

Bob Sales died Monday at the age of 89. His family said his days as a Herald editor in sports and news were some of the happiest of his career.

“He was addicted to newspapers,” Bob’s son, Jonathan, said. “He was ahead of his time,” his daughter, Marian, added.

The Herald’s archives are filled with Bob’s work, but that’s not a surprise. Journalism is often called the first draft of history, and the stories keep coming. But it’s how you tell them that sets you apart. Bob’s approach will never disappear from these pages.

“Bob was a great newspaperman and could remember where every story ran in the paper,” said Ken Hartnett, a longtime journalist who was Executive City Editor with Bob when the Herald turned on a dime. “He was a singular human being with a great heart.”

Ken, who began his career covering NFL Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers for the Associated Press, said the Herald was losing money in 1981 and had to be saved. That’s when today’s design was born.

“I said back then all we needed was six sober reporters and we could succeed,” Ken said with a chuckle.

Jim Toedtman, the managing editor that year, said the “emphasis was on efficiency.” The web wasn’t around, so did he have a crystal ball?

“You have to get to the point and make your headlines sharper to distinguish yourself,” Jim explained. “We had a great esprit de corps and everyone was pulling in the right direction.”

The late Don Forst was the editor, but Bob, Jim and Ken were the horsemen behind the transformation.

Esteemed Boston journalists — from Charles Pierce, Gerry Callahan, Tony Massarotti, and Mike Felger, to name a few — were all mentored by Bob Sales. Political columnist Peter Lucas said Bob “had a keen eye for both sports and politics. He was a newspaperman through and through, the likes of which they don’t make anymore.”

The Herald has a long history of surviving. We’ve been bought, sold and rescued from bankruptcy. But at the core, we are the paper of the people of this great city and region.

“Keep up the fight,” urged Jim Toedtman. He worked too hard in 1981, along with Don, Ken, and Bob, to accept anything less.

He doesn’t have to worry about that; the spirit of 1981 is alive in today’s Boston Herald!

Bob is survived by his wife of 67 years, Naomi (Simon) Sales; their son Jonathan, his wife Catalina, and granddaughter Sara (of Newton); their daughter Marian and her partner Ted (both of Lynn), grandson Douglas, and granddaughter Nicole; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

“The family is incredibly grateful to the staff at Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Woburn, and to Rachelle Tessa, who helped to care for Bob at home,” his obituary notes. “Bob will be dearly missed.”

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled sometime in the spring.

Bob’s obituary also adds that he worked at the New York Herald Tribune, Newsday, the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, and the Boston Herald. For decades, Bob also taught journalism to students lucky enough to have him as a professor at Boston University and Northeastern University. Later, Bob joined the MIT News Office.

At the Globe, where Bob was a reporter and columnist from 1966 to 1978, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that covered the desegregation of Boston schools in 1975. In 1973, Bob was also invited to contribute as a journalist-fellow at Northwestern University.

There’s an old tradition in journalism where you pen an appreciation to those who toiled before you. As one of the Herald’s former editors, Kevin Convey, once said to the newsroom, “We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.”

Bob, that’s you.

Rest in peace. The Herald is standing tall.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/07/appreciation-bob-sales-a-newsman-addicted-to-success-of-the-herald/