Photo by Phyllis Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’ appreciation to George Hesselberg for the reminder that yesterday—Apr. 18 was the anniversary of Ernie Pyle’s death—1945 by enemy sniper, and was thus chosen to be an annual newspaper columnist appreciation day.
Pyle, of course, was the premier WWII newspaper columnist, writing of soldiers in the trenches in a way that endeared him to readers at home and at war.
George, as everyone knows, was the very popular Wis. State Jour. columnist who brought death to life with his sensitive obits collected in George’s book “Deadlines.”
In 1973, as a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal, the keeper won the Scripps-Howard Ernie Pyle Memorial award which came with a $1,000 check and the back cover of Editor and Publisher as personal promotional.
It was a heady time, and the keeper writes about it in “Treeson, an APOLOGIA to Trees,” for the paper pulp that went to print his column “drivel,” over so many years. “Treeson” is available through Amazon or from him at billstokesauthor.com at which venue a free copy of “Ship The Kids On Ahead,” old State Journal columns, is included.
Contact him at billstokes31@gmail.com or at 608 370-0477.
Photo by Bill Stokes