Son Of Legendary Washington Post Publisher Commits Suicide Like His Father

A son of Katherine Graham, the legendary former Washington Post publisher, killed himself in a suicide reminiscent of his father’s more than 50 years ago, according to a news report Monday.

William Graham, 69, died December 20 at his home in Los Angeles. According to an obituary in The Washington Post, “The cause was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said his brother Donald E. Graham, a former Post publisher and chief executive.”

“William’s death came just two days before the Washington, DC, premiere of the movie ‘The Post,’ which recounts the paper’s 1971 efforts to publish the infamous ‘Pentagon Papers’ and features Oscar winner Meryl Streep as his late mom,” the New York Post reported.

“His father, Philip Graham, also committed suicide at age 48 by shooting himself with a 28-gauge shotgun in 1963, days after being released from a psychiatric hospital following six weeks of treatment.”

“Mr. Graham was a lawyer at the prominent Washington firm of Williams & Connolly in the 1970s before settling in Los Angeles, where he taught trial law at his alma mater, the University of California at Los Angeles,” the obit said.

He later founded an investment firm, Graham Partners, which he owned and operated for about 20 years until dissolving the business in 2001. Since then, he concentrated on philanthropic activities, including those in education, medical research and support for veterans.

Much of his philanthropy was anonymous, but he did acknowledge being an early supporter of the PUENTE Learning Center, a Los Angeles educational and youth services organization that has benefited more than 100,000 people since the 1980s. …

Survivors include his wife of seven years, Sally Lasker Graham of Los Angeles; two children from his second marriage, Alice Graham of Portland, Ore., and Edward Graham of Pupukea, Hawaii; a sister, Lally Weymouth of New York; and two brothers, Donald E. Graham of Washington and Stephen M. Graham of New York.