Return of the Columnists

Perhaps nothing defines a newspaper so much as local columnists, who carry on running conversations with the readers. But columnists, like the newspaper industry itself, seem to be a shrinking species. Even in Richmond, many have switched to other careers, retired or found their column canceled.

BOOMERlife is pleased to announce their return. Five former columnists from The Richmond Times-Dispatch are in these pages. Here they are, pictured left to right in an homage to classic newspaper movies like "The Front Page" or "His Girl Friday." Meet the five, again:

Randy Fitzgerald: Randy is an academician by trade but you wouldn’t know it from his down-home columns, often featuring his wife Barb, in the old Richmond News Leader and then The Times-Dispatch. He writes this issue about the very personal nature of the momentous year 1968.

Bill Millsaps: Bill was the paper’s executive editor but is better known for being sports editor before that – and winning Virginia’s sports writer of the year award as often as Tiger Woods wins the best golfer award. “Saps” – it’s OK to call him that – writes here about famed Virginia golfer Curtis Strange.

Betty Booker: Last year, Betty left behind her columns on all things Boomer- and senior-related and, of course, “Answer Granny.” She writes here about what early “retirement” has been like.

Ray McAllister: Ray left the paper in November to expand his book-writing career. With this issue, he also becomes editor of BOOMERlife – but don’t expect his to be a traditional editor’s column.

Steve Clark: Steve was among the best-known writers on both The News Leader and, later, The Times-Dispatch. Known for the “people” element of his columns, Steve talks here with the “UPS whiteboard guy.”

We hope you’ll enjoy reading all of them again. Let the conversations resume.