MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Buenos Aires Herald owner dies.

Peter Manigault, main shareholder of the company that holds the English language Buenos Aires Herald died this week in Charleston, South Carolina at the age of 77, reports the Argentine press.

Mr. Manigault was president of the family company that owns the Evening Post Publishing Company which among others controls the Charleston "The Post and Courier" as well as broadcasting and television stations.

His company in 1968 purchased 50% of the Buenos Aires Herald and in 1998 the rest of the shares of the daily started in 1876.

Mr. Manigault born in 1927 belonged to a rich family of farmers that invested in South Carolina media. His grandfather purchased in 1895 the Charleston Evening Post and in 1926 the family acquired The News and Courier which in 1991 became The Post and Courier.

A naval officer during the Korean War, Mr. Manigault always insisted in keeping the company in the family in spite of the tempting and lucrative offers from media corporations.

A close friend of CNN Ted Turner with whom he shared horse riding and angling, Mr. Manigault was an outstanding member of his community as well as a wise businessman.

The family's company Evening Post currently owns four newspapers, eleven weeklies, ten television stations plus extensive forested land.