Former PI Columnist Harris DeWese Passes
WEST CHESTER, PA—Harris DeWese, the longtime Printing Impressions columnist known as the Mañana Man who completed more than 150 printing industry transactions, died Oct. 29 following a lengthy illness. He was 71.
A native of Dayton, OH, Mr. DeWese founded Compass Capital Partners in Exton, PA. He specialized in consulting on mergers and acquisitions for the printing industry, and for more than 25 years, his sales column appeared in Printing Impressions magazine. Mr. DeWese ended every column with his trademark call to arms, "Now get out there and sell something!" He published three compilation books of the Printing Impressions columns and also authored the annual "Compass Report," which tracked industry deals and discussed printing company valuations.
Mr. DeWese often took an irreverent and humorous approach toward his sales topics, chronicling the ill-fated efforts of his fictional protege, Marvelle Stump, as a cautionary tale. The column debuted in November of 1984 and his final piece appeared in the March 2012 issue of PI.
An avid gardner and longtime fan of the Atlanta Braves, Mr. DeWese coached semi-pro baseball for a number of years.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Anne; daughters Elaine, Emily and Susanna; son Andrew; and eight grandchildren. The family has asked that memorial contributions be made in his name to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.org) and Manna (www.mannapa.org).