About: Steve Moss

Stephen Donnellan Moss (1948–2005) was an American editor and publisher who founded two major weekly newspapers in California's Central Coast and created the 55 Fiction short story contest. Moss founded the New Times San Luis Obispo with Beverly Johnson and Alex Zuniga in 1986, and was its president and majority shareholder. He financed it with a few thousand dollars raised by cashing in his IRA account and borrowing from his aunt, Professor Mary Josephine Moss of San Jose State University. By 2005, the paper had a circulation of over 20,000 and revenues exceeding $1,000,000 per year. In 2002, he launched the Santa Maria Sun in the city of Santa Maria, 30 miles south. He was the majority shareholder in the publishing corporation, and majority owner and builder of the 10,000 square foot hea