Sometimes there is nothing like the retirement of a colleague to make you feel pretty darn old.
Case in point, long time Lexington Herald Leader reporter Bill Estep retired at the end of June after working 40 years at the Herald Leader and 42 years in journalism overall.
Bill was an institution.
He manned the Herald Leader’s bureau in Somerset covering southern and eastern Kentucky for much of his career in addition to stints he had as the Frankfort Bureau chief for the paper and its special projects reporter. If there was a major event or a major happening in this portion of the state whether it was a natural disaster or a corrupt politician in the last 40 years, then chances are pretty good that Bill covered it for the Herald Leader.
Bill is that rare combination of a darn good writer and a darn good reporter. He tells interesting stories that are thoroughly and accurately reported in a compelling manner. In addition to the big stories, Bill has also profiled a whole host of regular, everyday people from snake handling preachers to coal miners telling their stories.
I have had the privilege of working alongside Bill covering a few of the same stories together over the years.
When I became a professional journalist some 32 years ago, Bill and WYMT’s Neil Middleton were two guys that had already been at this a few years who I really looked up to and admired.
If I was covering something and wasn’t sure what to do next, I would usually follow the lead of Bill or Neil if they were there covering the same thing that I was.
I would usually be sure to check out their stories and compare them to my own to see if there was anything else that I should have done or written differently.
Probably the first story that I ever covered alongside Bill and Neil was the capital murder trial of Robert Foley for the killing of brothers Rodney and Lynn Vaughn in Laurel County. I think I was three months into my career at the time.
In case anyone is wondering, Foley was convicted of murder for both killings and received his first two death sentences. He was later convicted of killing four other people in Laurel County, whose bodies were found in a cistern. He remains on Kentucky’s Death Row 32 years later with a total of six death sentences.
I am at a point in my career where I often refer to myself as a dinosaur when I am out talking to people or introducing myself to folks. Dinosaur is also a term that Bill used for himself in the retirement column that he wrote for the Herald Leader last week.
So let me take a minute and say good luck and best wishes to my fellow dinosaur, Bill Estep. You have earned your retirement. I hope you enjoy it although I suspect Bill will still be writing stories here and there. It just probably won’t be as many stories and just ones that he really wants to write about.
Bill Estep’s retirement means that the only other journalist that I know personally, who was already in the profession when I started and is still at it, is WKYT’s Bill Bryant, who I hope won’t be retiring anytime soon. (Hey, I feel old enough as it is…LOL.)
Let me close this column by wishing a happy retirement to retired Kentucky State Police Trooper and Detective and current Whitley County Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Lassiter, who is supposedly retiring for good this time or so he told me Thursday. Best of luck my friend. You deserve a happy retirement.
