A No. 2 lead pencil and reams of copy paper are the indelible images that colleagues remember about former Miami Herald copy editor James Maddox ''Max'' Roberts, 63, who died Aug. 11 near his boyhood home in Columbus, Ga.

Roberts, who was Home & Design Editor at the paper before his 1998 retirement, was killed in a vehicle accident while on his way from Hamilton, Ga. to Columbus to ''run errands,'' according to his widow, Beverly Roberts.

Known as Max throughout his life, Roberts began his newspaper career as a copy boy for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in 1964, working his way through the ranks first as a copy editor then sports reporter. He became news editor at the paper and then managing editor in 1975.

Drawn by the lure of big-city journalism, Roberts moved his family to Miami and began work on The Miami Herald news desk in 1977.

He was among the lead editors who handled training as the newsroom left the era of copy editing by pencil and migrated to the first-generation of computers.

Later, he transferred from the news desk to Home & Design to assist in the weekly production of that Sunday features section, which grew to 120 pages during South Florida's real estate boom in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Roberts was promoted to Home & Design editor in 1987. He played a key role in helping direct environmental reporting, leading to The Disappearing Rain Forest, a 1987 Pulitzer Prize finalist for explanatory journalism reported and written by Home & Design's Georgia Tasker.

He also helped coordinate a landmark Herald package, South Beach, a comprehensive examination of reinvestment and rebirth in Miami's Beach Art Deco historic district.

Coverage ran on 1A and seven other section fronts of the Sunday Miami Herald and included contributions from 20 reporters, editors, artists and photographers.

More than 34 full-color photos accompanied the report.

An innovative editor, Roberts introduced a Sunday employment section in 1990, along with a stand-alone magazine, Job Book, which pioneered the marriage of editorial content and classified employment advertising long before the Web became a force.

And he helped organize The Miami Herald's very first Home Buyer's Fair, which drew 15,000 participants in its inaugural run.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly; son Shawn Roberts of Columbus, Ga.; and daughter Lisa Roberts O'Neal of Atlanta, Ga.; and three grandchildren: Spencer and Ellie Roberts and Logan O'Neal.

Other survivors include his sister Retta Black of Ocala and aunt Florence Heath of Columbus and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 4071 Macon Rd., Columbus, Ga., which has opened an online registry at www.mem.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to National Transplant Society Lifeline or to the American Diabetes Association.