Gary Stephen Webb

WEBB, Gary Stephen
Died tragically on December 10, 2004, at the age of 49 years. Gary was a prize-winning investigative reporter who won more than 30 journalism awards, including a Pulitzer. In 1979 he started his career at The Kentucky Post, where in 1980 he won The Investigative Reporter and Editors Award. From there Gary's newspaper career took off. He then went to The Cleveland Plain Dealer and in 1988 was approached by the San Jose Mercury News; he took a job there covering the capitol bureau in Sacramento. In August 1996 Webb wrote a stunning three-part series for the Mercury News that reported the results of his year-long investigation into the roots of America's crack cocaine epidemic. The series revealed that for the better part of a decade a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to L.A. street gangs which funnelled millions in drug profits to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras. In 1998 he wrote a book based on the series, entitled "Dark Alliance." After leaving the Mercury in 1997 he worked as a Legislative Staffer until Feb. of this year. He recently had taken a job at the Sacramento News & Review, where he had cover stories in both October and November. Gary was born to William and Anita Webb in Corona, on Aug. 31, 1955. He attended high school in Indianapolis, IN, where he met his former wife, Susan. They were married in 1979 and have three beautiful children, Ian (age 21), Eric (age 16), and Christine (age 14), whom he loved very much. Gary is also survived by his loving mother, Anita, his brother Kurt, his sister-in-law, Diana, nieces Heidi and Renee, nephew Phoenix, Uncle Dan and Aunt Bobbie Scalabrini, cousins Julie and Laurie Scalabrini, and many friends and admirers. A Memorial service will be held on Dec. 18 at 2:00 PM at the Doubletree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way, in Sacramento.