David Stern III

Creator of ' Francis, the Talking Mule; ' publisher; 94



David " Tom " Stern III, a former newspaper publisher in New York and Philadelphia whose novel " Francis, the Talking Mule " inspired a film series of the same name, died Nov. 22 in San Francisco of natural causes. He was 94.

Mr. Stern, born in Philadelphia and educated at Harvard, spent 30 years in the newspaper business, earning top management positions at the New York Post, the Philadelphia Record and the Courier Post in Camden, N.J. In 1949, Mr. Stern and some associates bought the New Orleans Item, which he ran until 1958.

As a captain in the Army during World War II, Mr. Stern helped publish Stars and Stripes for soldiers. It also was during the war, his family said, that he came up with the idea for a novel about a talking mule named Francis.

The book chronicled the saga of a gifted Army mule whose advice to a bumbling young lieutenant wins battles and astounds the high brass. Mr. Stern penned screenplays for the series of " Francis, the Talking Mule " films that starred Donald O ' Connor between 1949 and 1956.

" It was really popular, " said Susan Wels, one of Mr. Stern ' s stepdaughters. " He would talk to me about all the royalties he was receiving from all over the world. "

Later, CBS-TV devised a series about a talking horse named " Mr. Ed. " Wels said her stepfather " was actually very annoyed at Mr. Ed. . . . Without Francis, there wouldn ' t be a Mr. Ed. "

Mr. Stern and his wife moved from West Palm Beach, Fla. to San Francisco last year.

Mr. Stern is survived by his wife, Marguerite, and stepdaughter, Wels; his son, Tom Stern of Naples, Fla.; sister, Jill Capron of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and brother, Jonathan Stern of Philadelphia.