Julia Park Tracey (pictured) — the founding editor of the Alameda Sun in 2001 only to leave three years later to persue other opportunities — has returned as the new publisher of the weekly newspaper, the Sun reported.

Tracey started the Alameda Sun with founding partners Eric Turowski, Eric J. Kos and James Spratley in September 2001. Spratley was the first publisher, Kos was creative director, Turowski general manager and Tracey (then Julia Park) was editor. Tracey was made a partner in January 2002. Spratley left the newspaper in 2002 and the company has been without a publisher since then. Tracey left the newspaper for an editor’s position with Alameda and Oakland magazines in 2004, then led her own publicity firm, working with artists, performers and non-profits. Tracey has been acting editor at The Music Scene and co-editor at The East Bay Monthly since 2006. She left The Monthly to return to the Sun as publisher and executive editor.

“I’m very glad to be back on the Island full-time,” said Tracey.

Tracey, 44, a Bay Area native, becomes one of the few women publishers in California. She was a longtime reporter, columnist and theater critic for the San Leandro Times and features editor at the Castro Valley Forum before leaving to found the Alameda Sun. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel “Tongues of Angels,” founder of the Red Hills Review literary magazine and director of the annual Alameda Literati book fair.

Tracey comes from a family tradition of publishing; her father, William Park, was business manager and publisher at CM Publications in San Rafael, which published Bicycling! magazine, SportsWoman (the first women’s sports magazine), Redwood Rancher and Dairy Scope.

Tracey is married to Patrick A. Tracey, director of human resources for CBR Systems, a biotech firm in San Bruno. They have five children and live in Alameda.