This is the creek beside the trail going to the falls. This is a watercolor PhotoShop version. 

Roaring Run Following a Heavy Rain

I've been trying to shake this dang summer cold for a week and today I thought I'd push the envelope a bit, driving up into Botetourt County in order to hike up Roaring Run, one of my favorite spots.

No matter how often I go up this magic place, it never ceases to amaze me with its natural beauty and today's light--following a heavy rain--was especially grand. I've shot photos of just about every foot of Roaring Run, but today, as always, it looked different than it ever has before. And I love that place. Here is my view from today. 

Keynote address presented at the 2018 conference at Hollins.

Writers Conference Cancelled for 2022

I was sad to see the announcement from Roanoke Regional Writers Conference Director Liz Long that the 2022 conference will not be held. 

Liz wrote, "We're postponing RRWC22. We're incredibly fortunate to partner with Hollins [University] every year, but with [its] current Covid rules (incredibly limited attendance, no group

Director Liz Long and Founder Me

lunch in [the]dining hall, no large congregating, NO COFFEE BAR!), as well as concerns for fall and winter with these variant troubles, I cannot in good conscience gather people together, or worse provide a subpar conference!"

She adds that the conference will go under full power in 2023 and she says she will "fully welcome your presenter and topic suggestions when we get closer."

Before Covid, the conference (which I founded in 2008) had never been canceled for a year, but had brief postponements because of snow. Liz is absolutely right in postponing for a second straight year because Covid is unforgiving and a conference under abnormal circumstances would lose its effectiveness, its charm and its value. 

I do regret that for the second straight year, the RRWC will not award its Sarabeth Hammond Memorial Scholarship to a Hollins student in a writing curriculum. There are some talented women in the Horizon Program who need the money.

In its years of proper functioning, the Writers Conference has helped build a community of writers in the Roanoke and New River Valleys and has either sold out or nearly sold out every year of its operation.

 There was obviously a need from the beginning and the conference has helped build an extremely strong and successful organization that has helped produce successful books, freelance work and writers groups in the area. That was always the ultimate goal. It has never been about gerunds and dangling participles, but about writers getting to know each other and to learn from each other.

The conference will be back and with Liz's leadership and the full participation of a strong writing community, it will remain strong and productive. Meanwhile, call a writer and chat. It will do you both a world of good.

 

The Roanoke Times building, where The Times doesn't live any longer.

A New Look and Direction from The Times

A note from Editor Brian Kelly in today's Roanoke Times indicates that the region's largest newspaper is consolidating, combining and ultimately shrinking coverage. The explanation is here. 

Kelly writes that the front section of the paper (including Page 1) will be all-local and that following it immediately will be what has been the Virginia section (which was local). Editorial (run by Kelly while the paper looks for an editor to replace the departed Dwayne Yancey who is leaving for a "new venture in journalism," according to Kelly) will follow that.

Kelly says the editorial page will be "picking up editorials from sister papers in Virginia." That suggests there will be no Roanoke-created editorials until a new editor is in place.

Sports will retain a position of prominence. The features department will be minimized, having a section front only two days a week. 

I'm wondering how "local" the front section can be with all the departures in the newsroom in the past months and years. Already "local" coverage has meant stories from Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Bristol, Richmond, Martinsville, Danville and the like where the owner of The Times has other papers and stories can be shared among them. 

I honestly don't anticipate more local--meaning Roanoke Valley/New River Valley--coverage. It will simply be a different presentation of what is now being run, a re-packaging, if you please. Lipstick on a pig, perhaps.

Dwayne Yancey's departure has yet to be fully explained (he's promised me a full explanation very soon), but Kelly's hint gives some credence to a response to a Facebook post of mine last week. The guy responding ventured that Dwayne would be joining James Madison University to teach journalism. Sounds reasonable, but we'll wait and see. Dwayne is not a man without options and his aging parents live in the Harrisonburg area.

New News Site for the Roanoke Valley?

I mentioned yesterday that a former Roanoke Times reporter is working on a new news site and now I have some details from Book City (here):

"There’s great news for those who understand the importance of the local press as a community builder. Former Roanoke Times reporter Henri Gendreau is behind the effort, which he describes as a “local investigative news and literary website in Roanoke.”

"The site will focus on local news, and also feature occasional original poetry and fiction delivered via a weekly newsletter.

"Are you interested in potentially contributing the emerging project? Gendreau is especially interested in hearing from talented short story writers. Writers will be compensated with a minimum of $25 per poem and $100 per short story."

Losing Dwayne Yancey Is a Huge 

Blow to Roanoke Valley Journalism

Dwayne Yancey

About an hour ago, I posted on Facebook that Dwayne Yancey is resigning as the editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times, a position he has held for some time. He has been with the paper since August 1982.

Dwayne is a guy who is leaving an indelible mark, an old-line journalist who understands the place of newshounds in a community. He has the awards to prove his bona fides and is a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame, not something given out easily and rarely presented to people still working.

In an internet communication, Dwayne said the choice to leave was his and that he will likely have more to say about it after he is gone. His last day is Friday (August 20).

The Times has been hemorrhaging institutional memory and enormous journalistic talent for a few years now and that surgery (to mix a metaphor) is making its way into the bone. The reporters remaining--and there are some excellent ones--have to be thinking long and hard today about what their futures are. I did a story for The Roanoker magazine a bit ago about all the journalists (print and electronic) who are leaving the field, primarily because they can't make a living in it any longer. It was a sad piece and it's getting sadder.

Dwayne's dad has been ill in recent months, which led him to settle into the Harrisonburg area to help provide care. I don't know if that has to do with Dwayne's resignation, but we'll know eventually.

As many of you know, Dwayne is a successful playwright and his plays are often being presented in several countries at the same time. My guess is that will continue because he loves it and he's good at it.

He is so good at being an editorial page editor that I believe him to be at least the very best in Virginia. His award shelves would testify to that. He is as productive as any newspaper employee I've ever known and his editorials are always fair, always minutely researched and beautifully written. I'm not sure if he's a liberal or a conservative because he plays in both ballparks on occasion, but I know he always knows what he's writing and what it means.

He has been a fierce defender and promoter of Southwest Virginia, the most ignored part of the state and his occasional series on economic development in that section have been memorable.

I don't know how a small-town newspaper replaces a guy like Dwayne Yancey, or even if it can. I hope it will try because we need that kind of rare advocacy, written by a man just about everybody--regardless of your side of the political spectrum--respects.

*

I thought I might finish this piece without mentioning Dwayne's sartorial peculiarities. It's generally not worth mentioning that a particular journalist dresses like the proverbial unmade bed. But Dwayne exceeds that. He dresses like a bum's bed that rests under a municipal bridge. It is part of who he is and even when he wears a coat and tie--which is often--they don't usually match anything and they look like they came from the Salvation Army adult bin where everything's $1.

He hasn't had a haircut that I can determine since ... well ... I don't know since when. But it's been a while and we're not talking about Covid Hair.

But Dwayne is and always has been who he is, a man without airs, without pretense and without any sign of ego. He's also a great journalist and I don't know a lot of people I would call that.

 Dan Smith Day Comes and Goes 

Without Major Incidents or Explosions

That's me accepting the proclamation from Mayor Sherman Lea and Vice Mayor Trish White-Boyd.

Today was officially--according to City Council--Dan Smith Day in Roanoke and I was tickled to receive the attention (I do love attention). It was to honor my 50 years as a journalist in Roanoke. But to put it all in perspective, I'll quote legendary manager Casey Stengel as he was being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame:

"Thing is, if you hang around long enough, they can't ignore you."

I was given the opportunity to put on a coat and tie, which I rarely do any longer; to introduce my sweetie (Linda Kay Simmons); to hug my buddy Vice Mayor Trish White-Boyd; and to say "hello" to the three newest members of Council. 

I also saw reporter Jeff Sturgeon of The Roanoke Times, though I didn't recognize him immediately with his mask. I did manage to tell him what a superior job of reporting I thought he did over the weekend with his story about Councilman Robert Jeffrey and some shady dealing. It was a prime example of why we need a vigorous press and I was proud to know him.

In accepting the proclamation, I said:

"Let me take just a minute to thank all the legitimate Roanoke journalists who have been aboard parts of this 50-year-ride. You are my heroes and your contributions to our city have been profound.

"Don't give up on the press because it is under attack. That has always been the case, but never has the press been the enemy of the people or of the truth. 

"Thank you for recognizing that."

That's Judy Dickerson, my grand-parent-in-law representing some
of the family that couldn't make the presentation. Thanks, Judy.

This is Susan, my marketing director and chief photographer.

John Levin of Mill Mountain Theatre offers congratulations.

That's me with my sweetie and Judy. 

More Princess and me. I love that lady.

My buddy Vice Mayor Trish White-Boyd reads the much too-long proclamation. 

Thanks, Trish. (Yes, I did get a hug.)

Are there legal limits on how pretty a councilwoman can be?

LindaK and me outside council chambers.

Susan stops to pose while LindaK takes over the marketing duties.

Which Image Best Represents My New Book?

The graphics director at my publisher, Stephanie Bridges-Bledsoe, and I are working hard on an appropriate cover for my new novel, NEWS!, which will be on book store shelves next summer. 

It is unusual for a book publisher to allow the author to have any say at all on the graphics involved, but my publisher, Propertius Press, not only allows my opinion, but encourages. Still, we have a dilemma.

The first image (above) is the one I really like because it is big, bold and makes a statement. But it is historically inaccurate. The camera is a Speed Graphic, which by the time the book is set (1969), has become replaced by the Nikon F1 as the newspaper photographer's standard. (The typewriter is precisely accurate, although it was made in 1917. In the book, the newest staffer gets the oldest typewriter in the building, which happens to be an ancient Royal, weighing 45 pounds.) 

I went looking for an F1 yesterday and wound up at Photo USA, which has a collection of cameras behind glass in its showroom. My buddy, Daaave (his spelling, not mine) Summers, found an old Nikon--late 1960s, I'd guess--and gave me permission to borrow it for a day. I photographed it with the typewriter, reporter's pad and my lovely Cross pen, a reporter's tools of the trade. Here's what it looks like:

For my money, the Speed Graphic is much better for the image, but the Nikon is very close to being historically accurate. Steph is going to make the ultimate decision on which gets used, but I'd like your opinion. 

The book centers around a young newspaper reporter breaking into the news department (from sports) at a time when both journalism and the world are at key points in their evolution.

What is your opinion? I will share it with Steph.

 The Final Paragraph for Eva and Me

Eva and me on our wedding day in January of 1967.

My first wife, Eva Marie Senne, died early this morning following a stay in hospice in Asheville. My daughter let me know and I was sadder than I thought I would be.

Jennie at 16, some years ago.

Eva, who was probably the most beautiful woman I ever knew, and I had a brief marriage when we were quite young (I was 20, she was 19), and the only truly positive outcome was the birth of our daughter, Jenniffer. 

Neither of us was ready to be a parent and when the marriage inevitably failed, I was left with Jennie to raise. I did not do a good job, but Jennie is fine (and looks so much like her mom), thanks to her own grit and determination.

After many years, Jennie finally found her mother and made contact. During the last months of Eva's life, they became close, laughed a lot, and appeared happy. I was delighted about that. 

Jennie even sent me a video of her and Eva laughing and called me at one point and had Eva and I speak to each other. It was a genuinely tender moment and Eva, who had a form of dementia at the end, delicately touched the screen where my face had been. I nearly cried, though I did not know this woman and had not seen her for more than 50 years.

Death is so final. I wish there were more to her life. I'm sorry, Eva, and I wish you the very best if there is an afterlife.

 A Birthday Celebration for the (uh) Ages

Linda Kay didn't jump out of the cake, but I nearly did. As you can tell,
Dan Casey was amused and I was grabbing my heart in exasperation. 

There are days you know will be memorable from the minute the sun rises and yesterday was one of those for me. It was my first day as a 75-year-old, a truly official "old man," but not one minute during the day did I feel old. I felt 18 for most of it, especially when my sweet, smart, creative and funny as hell Linda Kay had me jumping out of my own birthday cake. 

Linda has this unexpected sense of humor that often turns me red and yesterday, she outdid herself. I had about halfway expected her to jump out of a birthday cake in her birthday suit--and don't think she wouldn't--but, as it turns out she presented me with the cake you see above and mortified me to the point that I was speechless--an extremely rare occurrence. 

This roast/toast celebration (heavy on the roast, I'll admit) was about as much fun as a person can have at 75 without the accompanying heart stoppage. Good, creative, warm friends--and not a Trump voter within shouting distance, so we could talk openly and freely.

There were several authors and a publisher (mine, Susannah Smith, Propertius Press) and they were truly happy to meet each other. Gene Marrano, who never has a minute he isn't working, picked up a few stories.

I will mention that one of the truly outstanding results of the birthday is that between Linda Kay and me, we raised more than $1,500 to benefit SARA-Roanoke, which helps rescue rape victims. I had a $750 goal on Facebook and we doubled that. Linda Kay offered up her newest novel, "Pissant and Cinderella," at the birthday and contributed all the proceeds to the cause. I was really proud of her.

We did have a good time and I didn't even have to jump out of the cake. I just lay there.

We celebrated with gusto.

My pal April Marcell, who is a cinema phenom. 

My sweetie and her books help SARA. 

Pretty good pair, I'd say. 

Roses from my rose.

Susan and Linda Kay had a damn good time. 

Becky Hepler grew a beard for the party.

Bill Kovarik has one of those faces.

I'm trying to eat the cake before anybody sees it.

Dan Casey was brutal with the roast portion of the evening.

I tried to hide Trump with my black hat.

My valued colleagues Tom Field, Gene Maranno, John Montgomery.

Roanoke artist Eric Fitzpatrick and my novelist girlfriend were high school mates.

Linda Kay and Gene chat about her new book.

Greg Vaughn shot the covers of these three issues of FRONT.

John Montgomery roasting the old man.

My in-laws, Judy and Wayne Dickerson chat with Dan Casey. Judy likes his work a lot.

Lin Burton shoots Bill Kovarik and me.

Linda Kay reads one of the "roasts," from a friend who couldn't be there.

I like this shot of us a lot.

A couple of sweeties, Noelle and Bella.

Writer Robyn Schon with my publisher Susannah Smith.

I love working with my publisher, Susannah Smith. 

Susannah looking over Linda Kay's new book.

Teresa Berry of SARA and her husband David were at the festivities. 

And here is the woman who shot these great pictures, my friend Susan:

Susan (left) with Linda Kay.

Susan lets go. (I love this shot.)

We love you, too, Susan.

A woman and her camera are stars and can fly away. (Photo by my pal Greg Vaughn.)