Earl Swift: NORFOLK
He found poetry in tomatoes, corn bread, in old dogs and the scent of magnolia blossoms. He found romance, adventure and inspiration in the past and its stories. He found dignity, and decency, in practically everyone he met.
And in a newspaper career that spanned 60 years, Guy Friddell found a place in history: He died early Saturday at age 92, one of Virginia’s favorite contemporary writers.
Literary, lyrical and uncompromisingly liberal, Friddell’s thousands of columns for The Virginian-Pilot and its late sister, the afternoon Ledger-Star, earned a wide and devoted following and established him as his community’s conscience. His subjects included politics, which he developed into an expertise in Richmond before joining The Pilot in 1963, as well as the pleasures of family, the wonders of nature, the genius of the Founding Fathers – and, by no means least, his own legendary misadventures.
Those wearied by war, crime and pestilence found respite in his words and loved him for them. So prized were his columns that for decades they appeared in both the Norfolk and Richmond papers, through an arrangement unheard-of for competitors. Friddell attracted a passel of national and state honors, won the General Assembly’s official thanks, and was namesake to the Virginia Press Association’s top writing award. He was also a popular speaker, the author of eight books, and a mentor to generations of journalists.
(thanks, Mike)
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