A magazine article in Time reported in 1963 that a "jet-setty Joseph W. Knowland"[1] had set himself up in a luxurious office with a bar, refrigerator and television, and an expensive walnut desk grander than the dingy ones used by other Tribune staffers.
In 1977, Knowland's relatives sold the newspaper in a "bitter family squabble"[3] to Combined Communications Corporation, owned by Arizona-based outdoor sign mogul Karl Eller.
Upon leaving elected office, the elder Knowland acquired The Oakland Tribune, then the third-ranking newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area, and used it to shape regional political opinion.
Steeped in the powerful and politically conservative tradition of his forefathers, Knowland ran for US Senator in 1986, but in the primary election, he received only 1.81% of the vote against a large field of 12 other Republican candidates dominated by Bruce Herschensohn and the eventual winner, Ed Zschau.
[5] In 2006, veteran columnist Gerald Nachman observed that, in the 1970s, Knowland's heart was in performing onstage at the Bohemian Club, not in publishing a newspaper.
[6] Knowland and his realtor wife, Dee Knowland, were active in Oakland; both led the push in 1972–1973 to gain funding for the restoration of the city's Art Deco masterpiece, the Paramount Theatre, an effort that resulted in the building being designated a National Historic Landmark.
[7] The couple lived in Piedmont for 25 years, then in 1988 moved to the Upper Rockridge neighborhood of the so-called Oakland Hills.