BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — O.B. Copeland, who helped launch Southern Living magazine nearly 40 years ago and was the publication's first editor, died Wednesday. He was 89.

Copeland was admitted to a hospital Sunday and died of cardiac failure, his son, Barry Copeland, said.

The journalist and World War II veteran joined The Progressive Farmer/Southern Progress Corporation as an assistant editor and was editor of its spinoff, Southern Living, when it first published in 1966.

He became a company vice president and director of the Birmingham-based publishing firm in 1970. He ended a 25-year career with the company with his retirement in 1982.

Copeland earned a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Georgia, where he spent 12 years as the school's State Agricultural Extension Service Editor. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1958.

During his journalism career, he served as president of the Alabama Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.