Ann Arbor, March 8 - Fred Slocum, formerly of Caro, one of the oldest and best known newspaper publishers in Michigan, died suddenly Sunday morning after an illness of ten months. He was born in Holly, May 25, 1859. At the age of 18 years, he established the Holly Advertiser, which he later sold to his brother, James. In 1884, he purchased the Tuscola County Advertiser at Caro, which paper he published for more than 20 years. During his connection with the paper he filled all of the important offices of the Michigan Press association of which he was a member for more than 30 years. He was postmaster at Caro for eight yeras.