Douglas P. Baldwin, NPC member for 53 years, died January 2

Douglas P. Baldwin, an international media consultant and a 53-year member of the National Press Club, died Jan. 2 in Snohomish, Washington. He was 79.

His wife Janet said membership in the NPC was "a perfect fit" for her husband of 55 years because "it helped him shine where he needed to shine" -- as a press secretary for members of Congress, a spokesman for federal agencies and an media consultant. Born in Landers, Wyo., he served a four-year hitch in the U.S. Marines and was home on leave from Okinawa when he met Janet.

Baldwin was a press secretary for several members of Congress, including Wyoming Sens. Clifford Hansen and Alan Simpson. He was a press secretary at the federal Office of Economic Opportunity, the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Department of the Interior. Perhaps his toughest assignment was working for Secretary of the Interior James Watt, President Ronald Reagan's most controversial Cabinet member because of his pro-development agenda and string of controversial comments that prompted Time magazine to dub him "a quote machine." Watt said that without Baldwin's public relations skills he "wouldn't have lasted a month" in office. In fact, Watt served from 1981 to 1983.

The first Gulf War in 1990 sparked a 24-year stint in Saudi Arabia for Baldwin when he was hired to find a skilled Saudi military briefer in Riyadh. Success there led to other assignments, including editing a book for a Saudi general. He lived in Riyadh from 1990 to 2014, when he moved to the Seattle area. He had lived in Maryland and Arlington, Va., during his career in government.

In addition to his wife Janet, survivors include a son and six grandchildren.