Former R-J editor Wayne Stewart dies at 57

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Wayne Stewart, managing editor of The Topeka Capital-Journal, has died. He was 57.

Stewart died Saturday at his home after battling cancer since late last year.

Stewart held management positions in Rhode Island, Colorado and Las Vegas before joining the Capital-Journal in 2004.

He grew up in Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., and was a huge Mickey Mantle fan.

Stewart received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Baker University in Baldwin City in 1972. He later was an editor at the Dayton Daily News in Ohio and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

He also was news editor, managing editor and assistant editor for The Colorado Springs Gazette.

Stewart helped edit a Pulitzer Prize-winning story in Colorado on two badly burned children.