PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Stephen Hamblett, who led The Providence Journal for nearly 12 years as publisher and chief executive, died early Tuesday.

Hamblett, who was diagnosed with lymphoma during the summer, died at Rhode Island Hospital from a blood clot in his brain, his son, Mark Hamblett, said.

It was not clear whether the blood clot was related to the cancer or cancer treatment, Mark Hamblett said.

“This is a very sad day for The Providence Journal,” Howard G. Sutton, The Providence Journal Co.’s chairman and publisher, said in a written statement. “We have lost a compassionate and visionary leader who had a lasting positive impact on thousands of Journal employees and their families.”

Hamblett, 71, ran the newspaper when it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for uncovering corruption and patronage in the state court system, a story that prompted the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the court’s top administrator to resign.

He stepped down as the newspaper’s publisher and chief executive in 1999 and retired as chairman of the Providence Journal Co. in 2000 after spending his entire career there. Under his leadership, the newspaper merged its morning and afternoon newspapers into one edition, became a publicly traded company and then was acquired by A.H. Belo Corp. in 1997.

A native of Nashua, N.H., Hamblett got his first taste of reporting at the Nashua Telegraph, working as a summer reporter at the newspaper where his father was briefly publisher. Later in life, he continued to spend time in New Hampshire, summering in Rye, Mark Hamblett said.

Hamblett was on The Associated Press board of directors from 1991 to 1999, serving as vice chairman his last two years on the board. He stepped down upon retiring as the Journal’s publisher.

AP Chairman Burl Osborne, who had been friends with Hamblett for more than 20 years, said Hamblett was above all a family man.

“He was a really great friend. He was a great director of the AP. He was a great executive, and he had a great family,” Osborne said.

Osborne, publisher emeritus of the Belo-owned Dallas Morning News, worked closely with Hamblett when Belo purchased the Journal in 1997, as well as on the AP board.

“He was a person of remarkably high integrity. He was a very smart businessman,” Osborne said.

Mark Hamblett said his father loved Rhode Island, and was committed to giving back to his community. He supported a number of nonprofit groups over the years, including the Rhode Island School of Design, United Way, the Providence Performing Arts Center and other causes.

The most important thing in his father’s life was his family, Mark Hamblett said.

“He was devoted to us in every way,” he said.

Hamblett joined the Journal Co. in 1957, after graduating from Harvard College. He started as a clerk in the advertising department, then rose through the ranks until he took the top post in September 1987.

He succeeded Michael P. Metcalf, who died from injuries suffered while bicycling near his summer home in Massachusetts.

Hamblett continued to serve on the board of Belo Corp. until earlier this year.

Hamblett is survived by his wife of 15 years, Jocelin, three sons and seven grandchildren. His first wife, Julie, died several years ago.

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On the Net:

The Providence Journal: http://www.projo.com

AP-ES-12-13-05 1713EST