Cohn named new Inquirer publisher

Award-winning veteran Texas journalist Lew K. Cohn has been named the new publisher of the Gonzales Inquirer, the newspaper announced. Cohn’s first day at the newspaper was Wednesday, Sept. 1.

He succeeds outgoing publisher Steve Fountain, who has accepted a teaching position at Waelder ISD.

“It is an honor to come to Gonzales County, one of the most historic places in the Lone Star State, and to take the reins at one of the oldest and most-respected newspapers in Texas,” Cohn said. “I look forward to getting to know everyone and working closely with businesses, organizations, officials and residents to provide our readers with the top-notch news and sports coverage they have come to expect from the Gonzales Inquirer.”

Cohn comes to the Inquirer after a five-and-a-half year stint at The Highlander in Marble Falls, Texas, and the Burnet Bulletin in Burnet, Texas, where he was managing editor of both publications.

During his time at those newspapers, he won multiple awards from the Texas Press Association for his work and led the Bulletin to the coveted Sweepstakes Award this year. Cohn also won the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas’ Nancy Monson FOI Award in 2020 for calling attention to how one city was making changes that would have stifled citizen input and speech at council meetings.

Cohn also steered the development of a number of new magazines and special sections, including Lake Country Living, a quarterly publication dedicated to the promotion of the Highland Lakes lifestyle.

“I will miss the people of the Highland Lakes, who allowed my wife Betty and me to be valued members of their community,” Cohn said. “We made many happy memories there and many lifelong friends and now we welcome the opportunity to do the same in Gonzales.”

A 1992 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, Cohn won awards from the TPA and from the Mississippi Press Association and the National Newspaper Association during stints in Atlanta and Linden, Texas; Hearne, Texas; Henderson, Texas; Tyler, Texas; Greenville, Mississippi; Bandera, Texas; and New Boston and DeKalb, Texas.

He was also named the Alafair Hammett Media Award winner by the Association of Texas Professional Educators for his coverage of New Boston ISD.

In 2005, Cohn became one of the youngest publishers in the state of Texas when he was was selected to lead the Grand Saline Sun and Edgewood Enterprise. Cohn left the newspaper field in 2007 and worked for Cigna Health Care in Denison and Plano, Texas, for eight years before returning to the news media in 2016.

Cohn has been involved in the Hill Country Community Theatre in Cottonwood Shores, near Marble Falls, where he starred in several productions, including most recently a turn as Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family Musical.” He also originated the lead role of Buford Johnson in a new play, “A Twisted Christmas Carol,” by playwright Phil Olson, which made its world premiere in 2019 at the theatre.

Cohn and his wife, Betty, love playing poker and card games and singing karaoke as well as watching Longhorn sports with their two cats, Bevo and Frisky.