Yet Lock

September 7, 2019 Yet Lock, the former president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce in downtown Los Angeles who was also possibly the longest-serving news executive in Southern California, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Lock, who was executive vice president of City News Service for 40 years, was 83. He died September 7 in Sarasota, Florida, where he and his wife, actress June Kim, had lived since Lock retired in 2012. Lock was also a driving force in the Asian American Journalists Association. The AAJA had honored him for "paving the way for Asian Americans." The Los Angeles City Council honored Lock at the time of his retirement. City Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a resolution marking July 27, 2012, as "Yet Lock Day." Koretz called Lock a "crucial figure" in the history of Los Angeles journalism who helped build CNS into "an amazingly vital and vibrant news agency." Lock started with City News Service in 1972 after working as a top aide to former Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty. Lock graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism, and he was a public school teacher before joining the Los Angeles mayor's office. A scattering of ashes into the ocean off Sarasota is planned for October 5.