Orley Hood, a fine man, leaves a fine legacy

I was returning from visiting a cancer-ridden individual and offering prayers for him when I saw Orley Hood had died this morning..

As I would guess one of the very few sports writers/editors turned pastors in the Mississippi-Louisiana area, and certainly one of the few persons hired by Orley at both the Meridian Star and the Jackson Daily News/The Clarion-Ledger, I deal with death regularly. But this one hits me very hard. He and Tom Patterson were responsible for my previous career, but Orley even more so.

He was the assistant sports editor of the Meridian Star when I first wrote a story for a newspaper. I quit after one game. But a couple years later, Orley saw me in the hallway of Meridian Junior College and asked if I ever thought about writing for a living. I said yes, and he hired me on then spot to cover the Eagles.

He taught me on early mornings at the Meridian Star what it mean to "feel" what you wrote and not simply write it. He was truly good at that. He lived the story, even if the story was one of 15 inches or so.

A few years later, I was the sports editor of the Columbus (Miss.) Commercial Dispatch. A few great folks had come from out of state to work for The Clarion-Ledger, and for a while you had practically be from out of state to get a job in sports there. But Orley remembered me, and he talked Tom Patterson, who would become my mentor, into hiring me. So, Orley was the reason I had a career in that other life of mine.

Was he the best writer I ever worked with? I would lean toward John McGrath or Billy Watkins or Rick Cleveland, but I suspect all three of them would lean toward Orley. But I think anyone would tell you that even beyond his ability to write, Orley lived the ability to write. In other words, Orley was full of life like very few writers I ever worked with or worked for or even knew.

I've been gone for half a lifetime from the great state of Mississippi. Once, years ago, I had but one goal, to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Writer's Association Hall of Fame like my early mentor Robert "Steamboat" Fulton. But now I think I would rather be remembered -- apart from having found my true mentor and savior at an advanced age -- as someone who truly knew Orley Hood. Seems like quite a meaningful legacy.

He fought the good fight against cancer, and I believe he will be remembered for living the good life. I pray he knew Jesus, as well, for that still matters in the conversation about where we will spend eternity.

But without question or doubt, I know Orley was a class act, a good guy, a great father, a wonderful husband, and I will always remember him as someone who cared about the people he worked with.

Thirty years ago, when my life was falling apart and my first marriage was completely in the dumper, Orley was there for me.

As I pray for him and his family today, I hope I'm there for him, too.

God Speed, Orley.