"David J. Willmott was the fiery publisher and editor of Suffolk Life, a Riverhead-based, free weekly newspaper that wielded wide political clout in the county for a half century until it closed in 2008.

A one-time Kennedy Democrat but later a conservative voice, Willmott wrote often-scathing editorials that ended with a trademark "And why not?" He built a paper that started in 1961 with about 9,000 readers into a weekly that eventually reached more than 535,000. At one point, it even came out twice a week.

He was an ardent taxpayer advocate, which stance will always find a following. He often crossed party lines with endorsements. Born and raised in Riverhead, Willmott was the son of a gas station owner. "