James Rennie 49, Former P-I Editor; Car-Crash Victim

James S. Rennie, 49, managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer between 1981 and 1986, was fatally injured Monday in an automobile accident in Ontario, Canada.

Rennie's auto went out of control on ice and snow about 5:45 p.m. as he was driving to the family cottage at Stony Lake, near Peterborough, about 80 miles northeast of Toronto.

Rennie had been deputy managing editor of The Toronto Star until about a month ago.

A newspaperman for three decades, Rennie was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. His family came to Canada when he was 11. He had worked at various newspapers before joining The Star in 1968 as night editor. He rose there to assistant managing editor.

In 1976 Rennie went to The Ottawa Journal as executive editor, a post he held until that newspaper ceased publication in 1980.

Rennie joined the P-I in 1981 as one of two managing editors. When fellow managing editor John Reistrup became executive editor in 1982, Rennie assumed responsibility for the newspaper's features, news, sports, business and photography departments.

Rennie is survived by his wife, Sandra, of Toronto and a son, David Rennie of Seattle.