HUDSON–The publisher of the Register-Star daily newspaper, Roger Coleman, died suddenly Monday in Kentucky. He was 61.

The newspaper said the cause of his death was an apparent heart attack.

The news was officially announced on the paper’s website, www.registerstar.com. Word had also circulated earlier on a post by blogger and community activist Sam Pratt at sampratt.com.

The Register-Star said Mr. Coleman was named publisher in 2004, heading a group of local newspapers owned by the Johnson family of Watertown. The papers he led included the Catskill Daily Mail and the weekly Chatham Courier.

The Register-Star said it would publish a full obituary of Mr. Coleman and The Columbia Paper will also follow up with more on his life in this week’s print edition.