They were two of my favorites in journalism for entirely different reasons. Both passed away in the past week. Both deaths were the result of lengthy illnesses.  

Sports editor Joe “Bid” Biddle was on the team that hired me in November of 1981 to be part of the staff at the late Nashville Banner. “Bell Buckle” Bob Scruggs added a humorous and often offbeat outlook on life in Bedford County in his weekly column during my time as the editor of the Times-Gazette in the 1990s.  

“Bid” was my mentor in many ways.  

“Bo” Melson, sports editor of the Times-Gazette, taught me the nuts and bolts of reporting when I worked for him when I was in high school.  

Editor Sue Allison helped me polish my copy when I switched to news after graduating from college.  

“Bid” taught me how to carry myself as a reporter for a “big city” paper dealing with big time personalities with even bigger egos.  

He also influenced the way I dressed. Known throughout the sports writing world as the “Prince of Pastels” he taught me that real men could wear pink polos and dress shirts.  

We traveled many miles together and ate a lot of great meals thanks to a generous expense account. But we also found the best meat-and-threes wherever we went as well.  

If he had not given me my start at the Banner, I would have never been inducted into the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame.  

I appreciated his confidence in me.  

I left the Banner in 1994 to become editor of the Times-Gazette. When I wanted to get away from the newsroom, especially on a Friday when the papers were done for the week, I would often eat a late lunch at the Bell Buckle Café.  

While eating I would read the latest edition of the Bell Buckle Echo written by Bob Scruggs. I didn’t know “Bell Buckle” Bob, but I enjoyed his quirky writing style.  

I was looking for ways to make the T-G as local as possible, so I met him and offered him a weekly column. I never regretted it, but I sometimes wondered what I had done.  

“Bell Buckle” Bob was classically educated and liked to show off his extensive vocabulary in his column. Some readers complained Bob used too many big words. I suggested he simplify his prose.  

Instead, he would place in parentheses “big word warning” before using a multiple-syllable word.  

That was typical “Bell Buckle” Bob. He was going to do things the way he thought they should be done. He often thumbed his nose at convention as he smoked another Virginia Slim.  

I miss “Bid” and “Bell Buckle” Bob. May they rest in peace.