W
hen my old friend and former
boss Cecil Bentley asked me
to become city editor of The
Union-Recorder in the early 1990s, I
already had a good job in Atlanta, covering
the state legislature for The Telegraph in
Macon. But Cecil is a persuasive guy, and
he made an offer that was irresistible to
my family and me, so we moved back to
Milledgeville in 1993. I say “moved back”
because we had lived in Milledgeville in
the 1980s and loved the community. So it
was like coming back home.
One thing that drew me was the desire
to be involved in covering news in a
community where I was also involved as a
citizen. Local journalism can have a more
personal and direct impact in a small or
mid-sized town than it might in a larger
community. I was eager for the challenge
of reporting on local issues and providing
critical coverage and insights that friends,
neighbors, voters and leaders could use to
resolve those issues.
We had a newsroom full of talented
journalists and had publishers like Cecil
and later Susan Patterson who had some
great ideas. I think it’s fair to say we aimed
to cover the news energetically but fairly
-- and that we succeeded much of the
time. Not always, to be sure, but enough to
make me proud of the work we did.
The staff also included longtime
community members like front-desk
wizard Patsy Smith and master print-
ers Ralph Hammock and Keith Justice,
whose perspective often helped guide our
journalism. (Keith Barlow who’s now the
publisher was an up-and-coming comput-
er systems specialist back then!)
As much as issues like education,
criminal justice and the environment were
important to me, I learned that our read-
ers had important priorities of their own,
like how their kids did in rec department
sports and what was the latest news at the
Rotary or Kiwanis clubs, for instance.
Milledgeville helped educate me about
those priorities, and I’m better for the
lessons.
On a purely personal level, I’m especial-
ly grateful for one story assignment that
changed my life. After I went to interview
local gospel singer James Manson, I ended
up playing guitar with his group, the New
Piney Groves during a concert at Russell
Auditorium. Later, through the help of
gospel musician James Taylor, I became a
regular guitar player for the Emoni Gospel
Singers, led by Curt and Lillie Davis, who
remain my treasured friends to this day.
Sadly, James Manson and James Taylor
(both of whom were longtime City of
Milledgeville employees) have passed
away - but meeting them started me in a
new direction.
Since then I’ve played guitar for multi-
ple gospel groups and churches in Atlanta,
where I once again live, but it all began for
me in Milledgeville.
During my time at The Union-Record-
er, a particular idea crystalized in my
mind.
In Milledgeville, as in so many Ameri-
can communities, it was clear to me that
black and white people shared a common
space, but mostly lived in different worlds.
It became a priority of mine to find ways
to bridge those worlds. And I developed
a modest personal dream: Before I Ieave
this world, I hope to be able to say in truth
that we are one community. That’s still my
dream -- and it, too, began for me at The
Union-Recorder in Milledgeville.
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