In Memoriam: NJG Remembers Marvin L. Lake – A Stellar News Man

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter Emeritus
New Journal and Guide 

Marvin Leon Lake, 80, a respected practitioner, mentor, and leader in journalism in Hampton Roads and Virginia, died on March 27.

The cause of his demise was not revealed; however, he had been ill for some time. He died at home with his wife of 41 years, Ruby A. Farrar-Lake, whom he called the love of his life, best friend, and faithful caregiver.

Lake’s career in reporting about the lives of the people in his Norfolk hometown spanned five decades. He started in 1959 as a student-reporter and business manager of the paper at Jacox Middle School. He was reporter-editor of the Clarion at Booker T. Washington High School (BTWHS), the NSU Spartan Echo, Journal and Guide, the city’s historic Black publication, and the Virginian-Pilot.

Born in 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia, he was predeceased by his mother, Audrey Marie Lake White, stepfather, Charles White, and brother, Maurice A. Lake.

Paul Riddick, a former Norfolk City Councilmember, recalls meeting Lake when both were children.

“He always walked to elementary, junior high, and Booker T. You always knew he would be somebody because he was quiet and smart,” said Riddick. “We were friends. He was a conservative who did not always agree with the popular ideals as an individual. Because of that, some were not fond of him, but I always thought he was fair and professional as a reporter.”

His earlier career in journalism was chronicled in the New Journal and Guide.

Lake was not only an aspiring journalist but a dynamic “Big Man on Campus” (BMOC), involved in the student government, debate teams, academic honor groups, and other activities in high school and college.

Lake was drafted in 1967 and spent two years in the United States Army during the height of the Vietnam Conflict. He saw no combat and worked in the public information office, producing the base newspaper at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.

After his military career, he landed a job as a reporter with the Pilot in the early 1970s, covering federal courts, education, Norfolk City government, politics, and unique projects.

“M.L.,” as he was affectionately known, retired in 2007 after moving up the ranks as the  first African-American reporter, editor, and public editor of The Virginian-Pilot, closing a 41-year career in the newsroom.

Glen Mason, a graduate of Norfolk Catholic and NSU, was a fledgling journalist at the GUIDE and the Pilot.

A stellar athlete, Mason covered sports. When he arrived at the Pilot in the early 1970s, he, Lake, Kenneth Wright, an art producer and photographer, and the janitorial staff were the only Blacks working in the Pilot’s building at the time.

“There would be no Glen Mason, a sportswriter for a major daily, if it were not for Marvin Leon Lake,” Mason told the GUIDE. “With Lake and the GUIDE’s Len Graves and Cal Jacox, I had African-American journalists in my youth I could aspire to be.”

“Marvin is the reason I’ve interviewed friends and colleagues like Alex Bognon, the late Grover Washington, Jr., Marcus Anderson, and Gerald Albright.”

“Marvin was a music reviewer and wrote about jazz for the Virginian-Pilot when I was a copy boy at the Ledger-Star, the afternoon paper,” Mason recalled.

“Before college he taught me how to write an album review, and interview the musician.” 

For several years, Lake programmed and produced a weekly radio jazz show, “Anything Goes” on WOWI, (later 103-JAMZ).

In 1983, for the first time, a significant number of Black journalists were working in various media outlets in the region. The offspring of that progress was the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals (HRBMP) and Lake was one of the key founding fathers.

Lake always promoted diversity in the newsroom and wrote a career advice column “Career-Wise” for the National Association of Black Journalists Journal (NABJ).

In 2012, Lake was inducted into HRBMP’s Inaugural Hall of Fame.

He served as its leader from 2001-2003.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of former HRBMP President Marvin Leon Lake,” wrote Lisa Godley, the multi-Emmy Winning producer of the WHRO talk show “Another View” and the current HRBMP President.

“You’ve heard me say before that we, as members of Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, stand on the shoulders of giants, and Marvin Lake was one of them. He will truly be missed.”

He was The Pilot’s newsroom recruitment director for nine years and the Sunday Commentary editor simultaneously. Lake directed Landmark Communication’s year-long Minority Training Program, The Pilot’s summer internship program, and its Minority Journalism Workshop for high school students.

In 2005, his editorial, “Overdue Restitution,” about a new state scholarship program for individuals adversely impacted by Massive Resistance, won an Excel Award from HRBMP.

In 1997, he conceived and edited the award-winning three-day Pilot series, “Church Street:

What Was Lost,” about the one-time hub of Black life in Hampton Roads. He also conceived, hosted, and narrated the local PBS documentary “Church Street: Harlem of the South,” a joint effort of The Pilot and WHRO-TV which won local, state, and national awards.

Although he was an accomplished journalist, Lake had a sociology degree and a psychology minor from NSU.

At NSU, he was assistant to the school’s Public Affairs Director, Harvey Johnson, Jr. He also wrote a weekly column in the GUIDE called “From Norfolk State.”

He was an adjunct professor of journalism at NSU. He was the first recipient of the NSU Department of Mass Communications and Journalism’s Excellence in Communications Award and the NSU Distinguished Alumni in Media Award.

He was director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government and a long-time co-chair of the Virginia Press Association’s Diversity Committee, conducting diversity training sessions. In June 2001, he received the George Mason Award from the Virginia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for significant contributions to journalism in Virginia.

In 2007, he was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. In 2008, the National Association of Minority Media Executives presented him with its top honor, the Robert G. Maynard Legend Award.

Lake was project director for the City of Norfolk’s 50th Anniversary of the End of Massive Resistance Commemoration. He helped develop a book about African-American history in Norfolk.

Lake was vice president for planning and operations of the Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men Inc. For a number of years, he organized the annual 200+ Scholars Breakfast, honoring area African-American male high school graduates.