Former Local Newspaper Publisher
Alfred M. Liveright
Alfred M. "Al" Liveright of Mount Dora died of
age-inflicted ailments on January 14, 2020. He was 86
and lived at Waterman Village retirement community.
Mr. Liveright was born on March 18, 1933, in
Clearfield, PA, the only child of Henry and Jospehine
Lloyd Liveright. He graduated from Clearfield High
School in 1951, received a Bachelor of Arts in Political
Science from Swarthmore college in 1955, then a
Masters of Arts in International Relations from John
Hopkins University's School of Advanced International
Studies, in Washington, D.C., in 1957.
He was an international economist with the U.S.
Department of Commerce before moving to Mount
Dora in 1971 to publish what became the award-winning weekly newspaper, The Mount Dora
Topic. Upon selling to an expanding Central Florida newspaper chain a dozen years later, Mr.
Liveright embarked on travels with his wife that took them to more than 90 countries and
territories.
Coming out of early retirement, he served as Executive Vice President of the Mount Dora Area
Chamber of Commerce. In an agreement with the City of Mount Dora, which granted the
Chamber a modest annual sum, Mr. Liveright produced a monthly city-government newsletter.
Retiring from fulltime work in 1992, he was a free-lance writer for local media during the
following decade.
During his later years in Mount Dora, Mr. Liveright was active in numerous organizations: Life
member and past president of the IceHouse Players; past president of the Kiwanis Club of
Mount Dora; life member of the Mount Dora Historical Society; past officer of the Center of the
Arts, Music Festival, Sister Cities, and the United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties. He also
was a member of the University Club of Winter Park and for 30 years, the Mount Dora Yacht
Club.
Mr. Liveright was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Mount Dora, where he had
served in past years as a lay reader.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Marlette J. Liveright, of Mount Dora; son Keith of
Greensboro, NC; daughter Alisa Beth Lattner and son-in-law Tim, also two grandsons, of
Tallahassee; three stepchildren, David Baker (Marcia) of Clemmons, NC, Sherri Baker of Raleigh,
NC, and Julie Gundy (Mike) and their four children of Katy, TX. He was preceded in death by his
first wife, Audrey M. Liveright, in 1987.
A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at the First
Presbyterian Church of Mount Dora, 222 West Sixth Avenue, with reception to follow in the
parish center.
Memorials payable to the Mount Dora Community Trust and earmarked "Liveright
Endowment" (of the performing arts) may be sent to Liveright Endowment for the Performing
Arts, ℅ Mount Dora Community Trust, P. O. Box 1406, Mount Dora, FL 32756.
Arrangements are being handled by the Allen J. Harden Funeral Home of Mount Dora