Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ex-Roanoke Times Newsie on Pulitzer Team

John Hudson is at the right rear in this photo of the Pulitzer team.^

UPDATED

My old pal John Hudson of the Bristol Herald Courier (late of The Roanoke Times) is part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize yesterday for public service. See the story in the Bristol paper here.

John, who was a long-time copy editor at The Times before he got too old to work there and was summarily dismissed, is in the photo of the Pulitzer team. Like everybody else I've known who won a Pulitzer as part of a team, John diminishes his role: "Insofar as it's a team award (tho Daniel Gilbert is the big, obvious and deserving hero) and I did some design and some last-minute editing and got to lay out today's front page with the Pulitzer as the lead, I guess I sort of participated, but not much. But I'm no less proud." Gilbert is holding the display in the above photo.

My friend Mary Bishop won a Pulitzer in Philadelphia some years ago as part of an investigative team and her response--always--is that "I just won a piece of one." Ain't no pieces of Pulitzers. Both of these pros won the top honor in our profession and that's why, for the rest of their lives, they will be introduced as Pulitzer Prize-winner John Hudson (and Mary Bishop).

John, when he's not winning prizes and embarrassing former employers, is one of the funniest people--droll funny--I've ever known. It was a real pleasure working with him--and some other fun people there--when we were together in the Features Department of the RT in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

(Herald Courier photo.)

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