Mr. Stone died in 2005, at University Hospital after complications from surgery. He was 75.

Stone's last book,  Let's Talk Pay in Television and Radio News, published in 1993, explored the salaries within the newsroom and devoted a chapter to women and minorities in the newsroom, which was the reason he received the fan letter, Adam Stone said. He has written two other books.

He then earned a master's degree in journalism at the University of Iowa before receiving his doctoral degree in mass communications at the University of Wisconsin.

Mr. Stone remained at the University of Wisconsin to teach and establish the broadcast journalism sequence there. He went on to teach at the University of Georgia in Athens for four years before moving on to Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, where he was the director of the school of journalism for eight years.

In 1986, Mr. Stone moved to Columbia, where he was a professor at the MU School of Journalism in broadcast news until 1992. He also served as the chair of the doctoral committee before he retired in 1992.

In 1988, Mr. Stone was given the Distinguished Service Award by the Radio-Television News Directors Association, where he served as the research director for 22 years.