THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503230153
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A few years back, my friend Pat asked an editor who knew us both well which of us he thought had more cockamamie theories.
``You have more,'' the editor told Pat, after serious consideration, ``but Ford's are more cockamamie.''
I bring up this Great Moment in American Journalism because this will be your last opportunity to read my cockamamie theories in The Carolina Coast.
I am out of here, as they say. To paraphrase the late Richard M. Nixon, ``You won't have Ford Reid to kick around anymore.''
I leave this publication with decidedly mixed feelings.
I have seen great changes on the Outer Banks as they have gone from a place nearly deserted in winter to a string of bustling, year-round communities.
The tourist season gets longer and longer and if that is not always welcome, it is a great testament to this wonderful place and the people who live here.
I haven't liked all of the changes, but I still love the Outer Banks. I have seen most of the beaches on both coasts of the United States, and quite a few in other countries, too, and this is the best there is. It is a place that will, from time to time, lure me back for as long as I am alive.
Writing a weekly column has its advantages. The three Coast editors for whom I have worked have offered me great latitude and that is appreciated. There is nothing that a columnist treasures more than being left alone and I have had that.
Every failure, and whatever small triumph, has been my own. There is no one else to blame for what has appeared in this space over the years.
But I am not complaining. Where else, except maybe as a talk radio host, can you get paid for speaking your mind? It can be great fun to tell people what you think.
However, writing a column is not all beer and skittles.
The hardest part is deciding what to write about. It haunts you day and night. You finish one column and you begin to think about a subject for the next week.
It'll give you a headache and that part I will not miss.
Spilling your guts for a few bucks a week is not always as glamorous as it might seem. There are moments of panic as the hour of deadline descends on an empty head.
But there are moments of elation, too, when all of the words come out just right and land as if by magic on exactly the right place on the page.
To those of you who have read these columns, I offer a heart-felt thank you. If I have made you giggle or made you think, then we are both the better off for that.
So long, it's been good to know you. by CNB