I n the early years of my country editor career, I encountered some “help” situations that just about made me cry or tear all my hair out.  True journalists, particularly those who choose to work at small town newspapers, are there because they love this business, or at least most are. There are som...

Willis Newman Webb, 79, of Lake Charles, LA, died Monday, July 18 in his residence. He was born at home near Teague, TX on Mother’s Day, May 9, 1937. A previous life-long Texan, Webb “jumped the river” to Louisiana in 2012, following a 50-plus year career with newspapers. A 1960 graduate of the Univ...

W hen you get to the major reminiscing time in your life, hopefully you’ll remember those who gave you a boost along that long, tough road.  And, in your aging years, when you have more time to think, you tend to fondly reminisce about those good experiences. All too often, it’s after those boosters...

By Willis Webb W hen you’re born, bred and raised ‘country’, there are some givens. My mother saw to my baptism, inoculation and total exposure to what is known today as “Southern Baptist quartet sangin’.”  That was enough to ensure my lifelong liking for that music genre’ and to always marvel at th...

I n more than half a century in the news business (and still counting), it seems inescapable that the general public is drawn to “bad news.” It just seems to be in our nature to gawk and almost revel at scenes of misery and tragedy.  One of the best arguments showing folks propensity for “blood and ...

P erhaps junior high age boys aren’t as gullible and impressionable as they were when I was that age.  In my hometown, one campus served both the high school and the junior high, grades 7-12, with 210 students total. If you wanted to be the Big Man on Campus (BMOC), you either had a really long wait...

By Willis Webb S ometimes it seems that we are, to use a good Texas term, “snakebitten.”  Perhaps the handful remaining of my high school graduating class feels the same way. Tragedy enveloped us and put us to some severe tests early in life.  Dealing with death of someone close to you — a relative ...

S everal years ago, one of our nieces spent part of a day riding around with Life Mate Julie while she tracked down news. After a while she said “You have a great job; you get to get in everyone’s business and you get paid for it.”  Perhaps that’s how some people might see it, but one of the very be...

M y cowboy daddy, the late Lawrence Ray (L. Ray) Webb, saw to it that spicy seasoning was a staple around the household when he and Mom were raising four sons.  Dad spent a lot of his early childhood in Brady and spicy food – a definite Mexican influence via a significant Hispanic population – was p...

F olks at small town newspapers for any length of time have been subjected to “microphone thrusters” at Friday night football games.  Over the years, I have found that small town radio stations are faced with some of the same problems as country newspapers, principally a shortage of help that leads ...