Pulitzer Nominee Joins Roanoke Times

Rex Bowman, the former western Virginia bureau reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, has joined The Roanoke Times as a news reporter. Rex was named the T-D's reporter of the year for 2008, just a week or so before his job was eliminated.

Good hire for the R-T, which has been bleeding solid veterans for some time now. I hope Rex's hire is the reversal of a trend and I hope he's encouraged to do what he does as well as anyone I've ever known.

Rex is a native of these mountains (Botetourt County) and loves everything about them. He is also a good guy. Watch for his by-line. You'll like his writing. His latest book, Blue Ridge Chronicles, is a dandy, featuring stories he wrote about these mountains for the Times-Dispatch.