Ronald Alan McCrea was a journalist, activist, and aid to the Governor of Wisconsin from
1983 to 1987. A native of Saginaw Michigan, McCrea held a BA in political science from
Albion College and an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He worked as a
journalist for the The Capitol Times in Madison, Wisconsin from 1970 to 1977 where he lead a
strike which resulted in the creation of "The Press Connection" a competing local paper.
McCrea worked for the San Jose Mercury-News from 1977 to 1983 before his appointment to the
staff of Wisconsin Governor Tony Earl, whom he served as Press Secretary until 1987. McCrea
returned to Madison to work again for The Capitol Times in 1998, having been at Long Island
Newsday in the interim. He retired from journalism in 2008. McCrae was active in the gay
liberation movement in Madison in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He worked with
organizations including the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality, Crossroads of Madison,
and the Madison Gay Liberation Front. McCrea gave lectures and presentations on gay culture,
particularly gay representation in the media and wrote extensively about the work of Frank
Lloyd Wright.
