This is a rendering (by Bob Alexander) of The Roanoke Times sports department in 1972. Bill Cochran is at the top left. The rest of us are (from top right, clockwise): Mark Meng, Bill Cate, me, Bob Adams, Newton Spencer and Jimmy Wilder. Sports Editor Bill Cate is in the middle.

Bill Cochran Was the Best of Us, in Every Way

I've had a lot of blessings in my professional life as a journalist, none better than to have worked for 10 years with Bill Cochran, the legendary outdoor writer. Bill was not only the best sports writer I ever knew, he was one of the two or three best writers of any kind. His prose simply sang.

Bill died Sunday at 86 of bladder cancer, diagnosed two weeks ago, according to published reports. He had a long life, a good life, a productive life. He was a spiritual man who never pushed his beliefs on anybody, but who lived them about as well as a person can. 

I was never an avid hunter or fisherman, which he was, but I learned from him. I've been anti-gun for as long as I can remember, so Bill taught me to hunt with bow and arrow. I went fishing with him occasionally and always found him to be quiet, reflective, and a man who lived by the rules of the outdoors. He put most of his fish catch of the day back; he only shot the deer and turkey he was allowed to shoot and he was a humane man.

I won't say a lot more about Bill because people like Mark Taylor at Cardinal News can say it better, but I wanted to state without reservation that Bill Cochran knew how to live a good, wholesome, full life, one where he influenced a lot of people. Me included.