Rexburg publisher, lawyer tops list of all-time influential Idahoans

Browsing the Web this morning, I found this story in the Idaho Statesman about a new book by Randy Stapilus and Marty Peterson ranking the 100 most influential people in Idaho history.

The names one would expect are there: U.S. Sens. William Borah and Frank Church; potato magnate J.R. Simplot; LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson.

But occupying the No. 1 spot was someone who's name I've never heard in the 30 years I've lived here, and someone from the Upper Snake River Valley: W. Lloyd Adams, a newspaper publisher, lawyer and lobbyist from Rexburg. The book devotes five pages to him and his influence on Idaho government, beginning with his role in electing a Republican governor in 1912 and ending only with his death in 1969

Here is a link to the Statesman story: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/01/2295270/idahos-influential-100-new-book.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop

W. Lloyd Adams's headstone, in the Rexburg Cemetery. Interesting that he outlived his wife, Belva, by a little more than four months.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/01/2295270/idahos-influential-100-new-book.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop#storylink=cpy