Toby Massey passes away

Former AP photo editor and shooter Toby Massey passed away Thursday at home in Columbia, South Carolina. Massey was a well liked and respected member of the photojournalism community. During his 38 years at the Associated Press Massey photographed or directed coverage of major sports and political events as well as other significant news. Massey’s funeral will take place Saturday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. at Pierce Funeral Home in Manassas, Va. The burial will be private.

I met Toby covering the civil rights marches in the South. He helped this very green photographer and kept me from making a stupid mistake that cost have caused me a serious injury. Toby came to Washington and guided photographers for years.Dennis Brack
Toby Massey uses a Leafax 35 transmitter, lower left, a compander, upper right, and a satellite dish to transmit photos from the Havana Libre Hotel in 1990. AP was covering Fidel Castro's campaign against TV Marti programming. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
(AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
Other than being a first class photo editor who edited film in Washington, and many primitive darkrooms around the world, Toby was instrumental in helping AP members move into the digital age with photos. He travelled the country training member newspaper staffs on AP’s new digital technology. I worked with Toby in various capacities for about 40 years. Until the day he retired, he was receiving help calls from AP members he had befriended earlier.Bob Daugherty