Donald Lipman, 73; Retired Times O.C. Editor

Donald Lipman, a retired Los Angeles Times editor, died of lung cancer Thursday in Laguna Beach. He was 73.

Born in Jefferson, Texas, on Feb. 4, 1930, Lipman earned his journalism degree from North Texas State College and served in the Army during the Korean War.

For 16 years he was a writer or editor for the Standard-Times in San Angelo, Texas; the Shreveport Times in Louisiana; the Oregon Journal in Portland; and the Louisville Courier-Journal in Kentucky.

He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1970, working as a city editor, copy editor and makeup editor at the Orange County edition. He retired in 1992.

“He was a superb editor with a master’s grasp of the language and the required amount of skepticism,” said Gene Beauchamp, a retired editor who worked with Lipman. “And he was blessedly swift in handling stories.”

Lipman, a lifelong lover of the Old West, moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., after his retirement. He was the author of “Easter Sunday,” a self-published western centered on Billy the Kid.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jerelaine, of Scottsdale; his daughters, Linda Mandelbaum of Newport Coast and Kay Lipman of Brussels; and two grandchildren.

Services will be at noon Tuesday at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Dr., Corona del Mar. The family requests that donations, in lieu of flowers, be made to the John Wayne Cancer Institute, 2200 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica 90404.