This week's column: Two friends lost
We lost two good friends of the newspaper last week.
Stanley Shavitz and Dr. John Bumgarner both succumbed to illnesses within one day of one another. Dr. Bumgarner died Wednesday at the age of 94. Stanley died Thursday at the age of 79.
(Hereafter I'll refer to Stanley as "Stanley" and Dr. Bumgarner as "Dr. Bumgarner" because that's what we called them.)
Both men loved reading the newspaper. And both were convicted and passionate in their beliefs. It was not uncommon for Stanley to leave a voice mail over the weekend if a column or editorial had particularly struck him in the Sunday paper. "Allen, it's 5:30 a.m.," the message usually began.
Stanley was a throwback, a guy who couldn't wait for each day's paper, fresh on his doorstep.
Dr. Bumgarner was a retired physician who until recently had faithfully filed one letter to the editor per month, every month, 12 months a year, like clockwork.
His remarkable story included his service as an Army doctor in World War II during which he survived three years in a Japanese POW camp.
While Stanley couldn't wait for the paper to arrive, Dr. Bumgarner couldn’t wait for the 30-day limit to expire so he could submit a new letter — and he often didn't. We'd gently have to ask him to wait a few more days.
So far as I could tell, Stanley leaned a bit more to the left, Dr. Bumgarner the other way. Of course, I’m only guessing.
But I do know Dr. Bumgarner was no fan of Bill Clinton, and even less fond of Hillary, to whom he devoted a long series of scathing letters. "To me it is incredible that Hillary Clinton is even thought of as a possible candidate for the presidency in 2008," he wrote in 2003.
Dr. Bumgarner didn't like cigarette smoking either, and took a few editorial jabs at the unhealthiness of the practice in several of his letters over the years.
Despite his strong opinions, Dr. Bumgarner was a gracious, pleasant man in person. Once in a while he would visit the newspaper office and share a smile and a handshake.
He greeted me as warmly when I spoke to his Kiwanis club a few years ago. I thought he might be loaded for bear during the Q&A but I believe he gave me a break.
Meanwhile, Stanley was a true citizen of the Triad, a native High Pointer who moved to Greensboro in 1998, and who made his living in the jewelry and furniture business. He remained active in both communities, and his list of affiliations could fill half this space.
Stanley didn't write as often as Dr. Bumgarner. But he penned his share of letters to the editor. They were typically direct and to the point, as was this 2004 missive:
"My heartfelt thanks to the following eight members of the N.C. House of Representatives for declining to take a $104 per diem while the House was not in session: Martha Alexander, Lorene Coates, Mark Crawford, Stanley Fox, Jennifer Weiss, Connie Wilson, Mary Jarrell and John Blust.
"My question is, where were the other 112 members of the House?"
Stanley received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from Gov. Mike Easley last March. But I remember him more for his spirit than any awards. He liked to take staff members to lunch (especially the ladies) and he relished long discussions about what was going on 'round here versus what ought to be going on.
Stanley had told me of his cancer one day with a telephone call. I hadn’t known Dr. Bumgarner wasn’t well, but I should have. The monthly letters had stopped coming.
Stanley and Dr. Bumgarner are important reminders of what this job really is mostly about, and that’s people and relationships.
We don't always agree with our community of readers, but we value them and appreciate the dialogue they bring to the printed page and the Web, not that I’m sure either Stanley or Dr. Bumgarner ever ventured into cyberspace.
But they were caring and engaged and became part of our world at the paper.
Two very different guys, but two good guys all the same.
Comments (1)
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Thanks Allen for letting your readers know that they matter. With circulation said to be decreasing around the country, it's sad that in the market I live that the paper treats some of us like a pain.
p.s. I still miss seeing you on WUNC-TV.
Posted on December 24, 2006 7:05 PM