5-6-26

Saying Goodbye to One of Tim’s Favorite Writers

If you are like me, you are going to be saddened to read Butch Dale’s column today. Here’s the email I got Friday.

Tim, this is my last column. I have written about anything and everything. I sat down yesterday to write a new one, and I sat there for over an hour and could not think of anything. I have actually written a few in the past and then discovered that I had already written the same thing! This last one will be number 600!!!! I have been wanting to write a children’s book for about two years, and I am determined to get it done . . . I don’t have time to do it and the columns. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to express my thoughts and opinions in The Paper. I appreciate it!  

Butch

On one hand, I don’t pretend to know Butch well. We’ve only talked face to face a couple of times. A few more on the phone. On the other hand, like thousands of you, I feel like I know him really well. I have read details about his life as a teacher, a sheriff, a librarian . . . I have read about his high school years. His days as a young boy. Growing up on a farm. Playing. Learning. Getting in some hi-jinx.

You know. We’ve read it all.

And we feel like we’ve gotten to know Butch pretty well in the process.

And we’re going to miss him.

From a business perspective, Butch has added a great deal to the little paper that could. He’s shared not only his column, but he came up with the idea to do his Flashback feature where he used a yearbook photo and told us what the person pictured did in high school and what they went on to do. He let us guess who it was and we put the answer on another page – just in case you didn’t know.

He later called and said he had an idea for a “Back in the Day” feature. This was putting in a photo from something in the past and telling us about it. There were cars, things from school days, community events . . . all sorts of things.

I loved reading those. Bet you did, too.

So yes, I’ll miss Butch’s MANY contributions to our paper (and I say ours, because without all of you there is no Paper of Montgomery County). But more than that, I will miss reading Butch’s fine writing personally.

There’s a story about famous sportswriter Red Smith. If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Smith, he was arguably the greatest sportswriter of his era (1930s to 1970s). The story goes that some ballplayers were ribbing Smith about what an easy job he had – just writing a story each day. Smith replied that yeah, it was easy indeed. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter until little drops of blood appear on your forehead. If you look up Red Smith on Wikipedia you’ll see this line: “Smith became a freelance writer. In 1971, at the age of 66, he was hired by The New York Times and wrote four columns a week for the next decade, sometimes devoting 18 hours a day to them.”

It’s easy to understand Butch’s decision. Writing columns is pretty easy . . . at first. And then it becomes a challenge. And then it gets really hard. Really. Hard.

And that’s the key. Every week, Butch made it look easy. His writings were fun to read – and on a personal level were some of my favorite reads every week. I was very lucky. I got to read all of them early because he sent them in days in advance. It was one of my favorite things to do each and every week.

With every change though, comes opportunity. So The Paper has an opening and if you would like to be the next Butch Dale, let me know. If you know Montgomery County, it’s past and present, this could be your chance. Just know this – there are some pretty big shoes to fill.

Like you, I will miss Butch. Like you, I appreciate the time he spent and the enjoyment he brought. And like Butch pointed out many times, the world we live in today is messed up. Thanks, Butch, for giving us a little time each and every week to wander back and enjoy a few moments in yesteryear. Godspeed on the children’s book. We’ll look forward to reading it.

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically on Wednesdays in The Paper. Timmons is the publisher of The Paper and can be contacted at ttimmons@thepaper24-7.com