Complex sentence: Harry Byrd Jr. worked with many publishers of small newspapers in Virginia, assuming leadership directly or more indirectly through a seat on the paper's board of directors, dedicating 78 years to publishing in one capacity or another.
Split into simpler sentences: Harry Byrd Jr. worked with many publishers of small newspapers in Virginia, assuming leadership directly or more indirectly through a seat on the paper's board of directors. In all, he dedicated 78 years to publishing in one capacity or another.