Jean Hamilton Runyon was born in Concordia, Kansas March 6, 1927, the only child of Brutus Kerr Hamilton, a 1920 Olympic silver medalist and Olympic coach, and Rowena Thornburg Hamilton, a housewife and amateur actress.

Jean, the couple’s only child, spent her youth in Berkeley where her father was a famous University of California (Cal) track and field coach and athletic director. After high school, she attended Cal, where she majored in dramatic arts, leaving there short of getting her degree to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.

About a year later, she married her college sweetheart, S. Mercer Runyon, Jr., and moved to his family’s ranch in Courtland, just outside Sacramento. She and Mercer eventually settled in East Sacramento where they raised their two children, Stephen (1949-2013) and Elizabeth (born in 1954).

Ironically or naturally, depending on how you look at it, Jean’s own involvement in theater in Sacramento is what ultimately led her to a unique, multifaceted public relations career. Eleanor McClatchy, the matriarch of the family that owned The Sacramento Bee, recruited her to sell Music Circus theater parties, which Jean did from about 1952-1955.

With the characteristic strength of a competitive athlete and the vivaciousness and beauty of an entertainer, Jean built the foundation for and nurtured what was to become, and still is today, a widely known and respected communications firm called Runyon Saltzman, Inc.

Following is a chronology of the Sacramento-based firms Jean launched, nourished, expanded and left behind:

1955: Runyon & Associates

1960: Company officially incorporated in May 1960 as Runyon-Johnson, Inc.

1961: Name changed to Runyon and Associates.

1964: Jean and Tom Craig, an artist/graphic designer, became joint owners of firm they named Runyon/Craig & Associates.

1967: Peter Dannenfelser became newest owner and the trio renamed their firm Dannenfelser, Runyon, Craig, Inc. (DRC). First office was in Old Sacramento. After a couple more stops, DRC moved to 1616 J St.

1972: Estelle Goodman Saltzman, former reporter/writer/copy editor for Humboldt Times, Eureka, CA, Reno Evening Gazette and Daily News, Van Nuys, went to work for Jean as a writer in DRC PR department, and was initially stationed at the California State Fair, a DRC client.

1976: Jean, Tom and Pete went their separate ways and Jean and Estelle established The Runyon Agency, Inc. in midtown Sacramento.

Estelle became minority shareholder. Jean continued developing and working with clients.  Estelle took over management and financial oversight of firm, plus writing and strategy development for various PR clients.

1978: Firm moved to 22^nd and L streets, the Dunn Mansion, to accommodate growth spurt, later expanding to an adjacent building affectionately called “The Little House” … because it was.

1982: Jean and Estelle purchased and moved agency to what had been a popular restaurant called The House of Shish Kebab, 25^th and K streets. Estelle became equal shareholder and firm name changed to Runyon Saltzman, Inc.

1984: Jane Weagraff, who later remarried and became Jane Einhorn, joined firm in 1980 and became shareholder four years later.

1991: Jane increased her shares and Jim Siegel, who joined staff in 1987 as creative director, also became an owner; firm name changed to Runyon Saltzman Weagraff & Siegel, Inc.

1993: Jim left and company name changed to Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn, Inc. (RSE), reflecting equal ownership of Jean, Estelle and Jane. Agency’s next move was to One Capitol Mall in Old Sacramento.

1999: Scott Rose, client service/public affairs specialist, and Ed Raposa, agency controller, became shareholders. Chris Holben joined company as public relations director.

2004: Ed left firm and later that year, Chris became an agency shareholder.

2009: Jean retired in early 2009 and passed away Oct. 24 at age 82.

2010: Paul McClure joined company in mid-2010 as shareholder and advertising director.

2013: RSE principals were: Estelle, board chair; Jane, client service/business development specialist; Chris, board president/public relations director; Scott, public affairs director; and Paul, advertising director.

2014: Company moved to 2020 L St. where it resided on the occasion of its 60^th year.

2016: Jane left the company at the end of year.

2017: Estelle retired at the end of year at age 75.

2020: Runyon Saltzman, Inc. shareholders at this writing in Spring 2020 are: Chris Holben, president; Scott Rose, vice president/public relations/public affairs director; and Paul McClure, vice president/ advertising director.

Before her death, Jean had been a Sacramento businesswoman for more than 50 years. Her specialty was public relations, including press relations, special events coordination, community and political outreach. Through the years, however, her partners and associates helped facilitate the company’s involvement in the world of advertising, branding, digital communications and social marketing.

On her serious side, Jean was a power broker who put people together and devoted much of her time and money to nonprofit organizations, raising millions of dollars for local causes, especially the arts.

On her more playful side, she used her delightfully daft personality to reach out to and touch children and adults alike.

One of her most memorable roles, for example, was as the children’s favorite Storybook Senorita in a 13-week stint on KCRA TV in the 1950s -‘60s. This was followed by numerous non-professional appearances in various local theater productions.

And her finest performance came every Halloween when she climbed on her roof dressed as a scary witch, cackled with all her might, and tossed candy to the glee of hundreds of neighborhood children and friends, as well as a bevy of television cameras.

Following are just some honors Jean received in her career:

1963 First woman “PR Man of the Year,” Sacramento Public Relations Roundtable

1966 Presidential Citation for Distinguished Service-Ford Foundation Grant

1974 United Way Distinguished Community Service Award

1976 Member, California Joint Commission on Fair Judicial Election Practice (appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown)

1977 First woman on Sutter Hospital Board of Trustees

1987 First female member of Rotary Club of Sacramento, eventually named Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International

1986 Inducted into Sacramento Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame

1986 Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

Sacramentan of the Year

1987 American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medalist Award from Sacramento Advertising Club

1991 Woman of Decade Award, Sacramento YWCA

1992 Sacramento Public Relations Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award

1995 Association of Fundraising Professionals (California Capital Chapter) Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, in conjunction with National Philanthropy Day

1999 California State Fair Golden Bear Award winner

2000 Group of ardent fans raised $300,000+ and in partnership with City of Sacramento, renovated small theater in Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, renaming it the “Jean Runyon Little Theater” in honor of her 70^th birthday

2003 Athena Award at Sacramento Bee’s annual Woman’s Day event from Athena Foundation (national women’s leadership organization)

2009 Runyon Saltzman, Inc., established JEANIE Award as annual internal recognition of its employees who exhibited most Jean-like qualities.

2011 Sacramento Non-Profit Resource Center established annual Jean Runyon Community Leadership Award.

2012 Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from Sacramento Public Relations Association (second time she received award from same organization)

2020 Rotary Club of Sacramento created Jean Runyon Community Service Award to be given annually to club member who best mirrored the outstanding leadership traits Jean displayed

Among the best descriptions of Jean Runyon’s unique personality was one written in 2013 by Sacramentan Dean Chance, a former newspaper reporter and agency employee, story teller, impromptu comedian, musician and artist. Here’s how he said his piece.

When Jean Runyon died at age 82, she was among the most famous business figures in Sacramento. Once asked by an up-and-comer how she personally managed to gain such acclaim, especially in a man’s world, Jean said she had never noticed it was a man’s world and advised her protégé not to worry about such myths.

That was Jean. Forget conventional wisdom. Stop over-analyzing. Business is simple. Get together with interesting people. Create something good together. Don’t look for obstacles—you might find them. And don’t forget to have fun.

Her long-time business colleague and buddy, Estelle Saltzman, said Jean’s business plan amounted to working hard and making a lot of money so we could give it all away to people and organizations that needed it more than we did.

Jean wasn’t interested in management or finance. It didn’t matter. It might have been an advantage.

• She had a lively inquiring mind. She was a world-class listener, which is so important to motivating people. She made friends with everyone from U.S. presidents and governors to gardeners and garbage collectors.
• Each person who encountered her was left with the impression that he or she was her best friend forever.

• She was an irresistible salesperson for herself, her ideas and the charities she supported.

• She had a lot of influence and used it admirably. When there was a need, she could find the money and the people to attack the problem.

• She was an active liberal Democrat who happily worked with conservatives to get things done.

• Being irrational herself, she knew that would appeal to a fickle public without consulting statistical research.

• She frequently erupted with big ideas. Meeting with developers about an office project she asked, “Why is your address 111 Capitol Mall? It should be One Capitol Mall.” That turned an office building into a status symbol.

• She could spot talent.  She gave Jay Chiat one of his first copywriting jobs. Jay eventually achieved demi-god status with his agency, Chiat/Day. She visited his art-filled New York townhouse. Asked what it was like to dine with the great man, she said, “Oh, he’s just a big smarty-pants, same as always.

Jean held that her agency shouldn’t hire someone unless he or she had a good sense of humor. She terrorized people with April Fool’s pranks. Her fondness for dirty jokes shocked her younger colleagues. How could a sweet grandmother even know this stuff? “Oh, you kids think you invented everything,” she’d say.

She had a breathy, little girl’s voice, round eyes and a mile-wide smile, which she emphasized with red lipstick. She reminded people of the actress and singer Carol Channing. Ms. Channing, performing at a Lake Tahoe casino, must have been baffled when she came on stage and someone in the audience shouted, “Hey, —she looks like Jean Runyon!”

– Like her mother, Jean was an actress. She majored in drama at Cal. She knew how to steal a scene. She performed in local theater and early on did puppet shows for children as the Storybook Senorita. She also reprised her most famous role every Halloween for 40 years by standing on her roof, dressed as a witch, cackling madly and throwing candy. Age and a paralyzed vocal cord finally forced her to quit.

– Jean got her physical stamina and drive from her father. She loved sports because of him. But Brutus was also a poet who could quote Shakespeare and John Donne. He imbued Jean with a love of literature. She consumed books like popcorn and seemed to retain everything she read.

– She also amassed an extraordinary art collection, much of which was purchased from local artists and gallery owners she supported.

Stories of Jean’s many good deeds sound like parables from the New Testament. She once scooped up a bloodied and intoxicated man off the street and drove him home. It was 10 p.m. She was 70 years old.

Confined to a nursing home at the end of her life, she took it upon herself to feed the man seated next to her at lunch one day because he needed assistance.

She was tough. Breast cancer. Mastectomies. A heart attack and bypass surgery. A detached retina. She was married and widowed four times to S. Mercer Runyon, Jr.,

Philip S. Tow, Eugene Graham and Jack Murphy.

“I love being in love,” she said.

At the time of her death, Jean had been a Sacramento businesswoman for more than 50 years, devoting much of her time and money to charities and raising millions of dollars for local causes, especially the arts.

She was also a power broker who put hundreds of people together so they could build and develop the community and she helped shape its social, business, cultural and sports institutions.

If you love this city, you owe Jean Runyon a huge debt of gratitude.

A significant client of Jean’s in the mid 1950s-to early 1960s was Jerry Fishbein, a longtime, well-known Sacramentan, who eventually owned a chain of nine restaurants with more than 400 employees.

Jean’s enthusiasm and uncanny public relations acumen helped generate significant media coverage of several of Jerry’s activities and businesses, including:

• A large gathering of U.S. and Russian Olympians, media and guests at Jerry’s 17th and J Street Sacramento restaurant to celebrate the start of the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley;
• A special event at Jerry’s 19^th and Broadway, Sacramento facility to honor New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, who had recently eclipsed Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs record. Maris actually attended the event. And a young man who caught the ball in the stands was also on hand to pick up a $5,000 congratulatory check from the restaurant owners.

Steve Fishbein, Jerry’s son, also recalled that in 1962, Jean was one of the original founders of Sacramento’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

On Jan. 17, 1976, when Jean and Estelle left Dannenfelser, Runyon & Craig (DRC) to set up shop at 27^th and K streets, they brought a few small PR accounts with them, in addition to numerous ideas about where to find more.  And they named the new firm The Runyon Agency, Inc.

It was agreed Jean would continue leveraging her contacts and representing clients and Estelle would oversee the day-to-day business operations and finances of the new firm, in addition to working on behalf of clients.

According to Estelle, “This particular division of labor came naturally “due to my deep, relevant experience as a newspaper reporter whose specialty had been covering cops, courts and city government.” 

Because of a tight budget, Estelle was reluctant to hire a sign-maker to put the firm’s name on the front door of the new office.  However, staff member Anne Mahoney offered to create a gonfalon, which she committed to hanging and retrieving each business day.

When Jean and Estelle left DRC, three women from that firm’s public relations department went with them.  As the company grew, receptionists were promoted and that position was filled with women because men never applied in those days to be receptionists.

Bill Layne, a former newspaper reporter, was the first man to join the agency at the Dunn Mansion sometime in 1991 as a public relations writer/account manager. At the time, the firm consisted of 15 women.

Apparently, editors at the Sacramento Bee thought the situation was unusual, or humorous enough to feature a story and photo about the  “first man to join an all-women PR firm.”

One could say that’s a tale driven by a narrow attitude toward women in business in those days. Maybe so. But staff and management loved the publicity, particularly those who were included in the picture.

And there is an even better example from the same period that more clearly demonstrates the things women in business were up against in those days.

Because Estelle was going to manage the firm, she took a business law course. One day after class, she invited the professor to her office, to meet her colleagues.

After giving him a tour of the agency’s humble quarters, the professor noted how nice the space looked, while observing that apparently there were all women in the firm.

Estelle told him the story about revolving receptionists and he asked,

“BUT WHO RUNS THINGS?”

He wasn’t invited back.

BEST PRODUCTS

One lazy afternoon in mid 1976, Jean received a call from a San Francisco art gallery owner who said a Richmond, Virginia business owner needed help with the upcoming opening of an unusual building in Arden Fair Mall.

Jean was on a plane to Richmond the next day and when she returned, The Runyon Agency began what turned out to be a lengthy, colorful, profitable relationship with Best Products, a nationwide catalog showroom merchandiser.

Best’s first California building in Arden Fair Mall, designed by world-renowned Architect James Wines, was called “The Notch” because a corner of it was motorized and moved back and forth along a track to open and close the building each day/night.

The Runyon Agency reached out to Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum to help Best Products execute the Notch opening celebration, in exchange for a substantial donation from Best Products to the museum. That unique, upscale event, actually held in the museum, was enormously successful for everyone involved and paved the way to a series of showroom openings that generated much Best Products special event work for The Runyon Agency throughout Southern California over the next four or five years, as well as cash donations from Best Products to numerous California community-based charitable organizations.

During those early years, Jean became a trusted consultant and friend to Andrew Lewis, son of the owners of Best Products, who made the mistake of calling her on April 1 (one of her favorite days) in the first year of the relationship. 

“ANDY, I was just about to call you,” she said breathlessly as reported by Estelle who just happened to be in Jean’s office at the time of the call.

“Did you hear what happened at your showroom today?” explaining to her client that one of Best’s technicians turned on the Notch, causing it to go off its track, cross over to Arden Way and smash into several cars.

“OH MY GOD,” exclaimed Andrew, just about the time Jean yelled “APRIL FOOLS.”

Believe it or not, they remained friends for many years to come.

REGIONAL TRANSIT

Before Jean and Estelle left DRC, the agency had been awarded a prestigious Sacramento Regional Transit District contract, including a large advertising component and a much smaller public relations component.

However, in 1977, Regional Transit (RT) sought out Jean and Estelle once again, this time at The Runyon Agency, to generate press coverage of interesting community outreach efforts by the District.

The Runyon Agency suggested creation of a BUS BENCH ART SHOW that would involve local artists painting scenes on the backs of 35 commercially designated bus benches throughout downtown Sacramento that were normally used solely for commercial advertising.

Runyon Agency staff recruited artists to provide preliminary sketches. RT officials selected the designs that would appear in the show. Next, competitors were given blank seven-foot bus bench backs and a deadline for applying their artwork.

On the show’s opening day, a bus filled with media people, RT representatives, city officials and Runyon Agency staff visited the sites of each installation, getting off the bus to view the work from all sides and angles.

After all the benches were inspected and critiqued, the results were announced and the winning artists were given prizes. RT required the artwork stay on the benches until the show was officially over. Eventually, the artists were able to take their bus bench backs home or sell them as soon as the show came down to those who wanted them, graffiti and all.  Openings were held three years in a row.

SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT

SMUD in the 1980s was among The Runyon Agency’s first big-time ventures into the world of advertising, the result of an intense competitive process during which several local agencies pursued the piece of business.

On the firm’s introductory encounter with the top brass at SMUD, Brian Burch (creative director), Dean Chance (writer), Jane Einhorn, Jean Runyon and Estelle Saltzman began the drive to SMUD headquarters to meet the General Manager and other top executives, but before they could get there, a tire went flat on the freeway.

Jane, Jean and Dean hitchhiked to the meeting (they got a ride immediately) and Brian and Estelle stayed with the car until Brian could change the tire (not immediately).

Eventually, everyone arrived safely, though late, and embarrassed about the situation altogether. The assembled group didn’t seem the least bit annoyed however. Jean had charmed them all in advance of the second wave arrival, and the meeting went quite well.  In fact, the SMUD people thought the whole thing was funny.

SMUD’s  advertising and public relations work belonged to The Runyon Agency for more than five years after that initial false start.. The team worked on some big SMUD issues…one being the District’s involvement with Rancho Seco, a controversial nuclear power plant. Jean set up a special task force consisting of her friends…the Dean of McGeorge School of Law, a prominent jurist, and several other dignitaries who participated earnestly in dissecting this important community issue.

Also, at one point, unrelated to the Rancho Seco closure, Estelle ended up managing the District’s public information department for about a year (on special assignment).

SOCIAL MARKETING

Starting in the early 1990s, the agency began pursuing … and winning… some of California’s most significant social marketing campaigns by responding to government requests for proposals.  The goal of these initiatives was to effect behavior change.

First on the client roster was the California Bureau of Automotive Repair’s Smog Check Program energy efficiency campaign which the agency held for about three years,.

Reaching multicultural audiences became an essential part of the agency’s social marketing success. The firm used a variety of channels to reach Hispanic, African-American, Asian and other ethnic targets. Experience with informal groups, neighborhood associations and other grassroots organizations was key to the ability to disseminate information, garner community input and impact decision makers.

Following is a list of just some clients/issues the agency pursued and was chosen to serve over the years:

• BloodSource of Sacramento/Novartis Diagnostics, Inc. (Encourage African Americans to give blood/register as bone marrow donors
• Breathe California (youth anti-smoking)
• California Center for Sustainable Energy (Energy Upgrade California CBO outreach)
• California Children & Families Commission (early childhood development)
• California Children & Families Commission (First 5 Sacramento multi-media campaign to reduce African-American infant deaths in Sacramento County
• California Children & Families Commission (First 5 California media planning and buying)
• California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (Men Can Stop Rape)
• California Community Colleges (Academic Senate career technical education campaign,
• California Community Colleges (I Can Afford College campaign)
• California Dental Association
• California Department of Alcohol and Drugs Programs (Office of Problem Gambling)
• California State Parks, Division of Boating & Waterways (water/boating life jacket safety)
• California Department of Health Services (teen pregnancy prevention, statutory rape prevention, mentoring; BabyCal early prenatal care); Healthy Families/MediCal for Families
• California Department of Public Health (nutrition/physical activity campaign designed to combat childhood obesity
• California Employment Development Department (paid family leave)
• California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), (reduction in stigma and discrimination against people with mental health challenges)
• California Office of Traffic Safety, (campaign to reduce deaths, injuries, economic loss from traffic collisions; media planning and buying
• California Public Utilities Commission (energy efficiency Flex Your Power rural-area campaign)
• California Student Aid Commission (Cal Grant student financial aid)
• JACO Environmental (refrigerator recycling)
• Judicial Council of California (court interpreters recruitment)
• Merced County Human Services Department (public awareness of services campaign, 2000 – 2002)
• Sacramento County Health and Human Services Department (AIDS prevention, black infant health, elder abuse prevention)
• Shasta County Department of Public Health (nutrition and physical activity, teen tobacco experimentation and initiation and mental health stigma reduction)
• Woman, Infants and Children (participant recruitment)

The social marketing campaigns noted above were designed to reach numerous groups, including but not limited to Hispanic, African American, Ukrainian/Russian, Hmong and multiple other ethnic groups.

Many individuals and firms that work with the agency have unique experience reaching out to diverse audiences. The agency has formed an unique, robust Multicultural Marketing Specialty Group, the members of which have worked together on many statewide social marketing campaigns.

Runyon Saltzman’s background with informal neighborhood associations and other grassroots organizations, plus its early and growing use of social media enhance its ability to proliferate essential information in English and many other languages, garner community input and impact decision-makers in both the private and public sector.