How does a local newspaper cover the death of its most famous resident? Jane Ashley Pace, publisher of the Henry County Local, and Joe Durbin, a correspondent for the paper, talk about their coverage of the death of Wendell Berry, Kentucky's famed poet and novelist with Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom Audience Editor Andrew Henderson.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Andrew Henderson: Once you had confirmation of Wendell Berry's death, what was your first thought, and how were you going to cover this for the Henry County Local?
Jane Ashley Pace: We knew we wanted to do something big. We knew that he deserved to be celebrated, his life and his impact on the community. And so it was fresh in my mind with Dolly Parton, and I had seen that The Tennessean and some of the newspapers down there had actually done a full-page portrait of her on the front page. So we started kicking around, ‘Well, why can't we do that for Wendell Berry?’ It's a full page photo of him that'll be the front, and we pretty much took all of the news out of the A Section this week because there was nothing that really held a candle to this for us. We even found his birth announcement, which was really cool … because you think about it, that was the first time he was in a newspaper.
Andrew: Joe, refresh my memory, how long have you lived in Henry County?
Joe Durbin: I've been there 26 years now. At the end of ‘99, I moved to Henry County out by Port Royal, which is Wendell's hometown. I've actually worked on some of his animals at the farm. I'm a farrier and an equine dentist. I've been doing that for 35 years since I retired from the Navy, and I run and founded a food pantry out in Henry County called the Henry County Help Center, and Wendell's daughter-in-law, Billy, actually has worked at the help center.
Andrew: In your position as a correspondent for the paper, what did it mean to you to play a role in this coverage?
Joe: I was actually very honored and privileged … I talked to Ben Aguilar, he's the director of operations for the Berry Center as well as Wendell Berry's grandson-in-law. As soon as he found out that I was over at the Berry Center he immediately came over and sat down and did a lengthy interview, and he made mention during the interview that since it was the Henry County Local, that he naturally was going to talk to us, and he was very upfront answering, and it was at a tough time too, because it was less than 24 hours after Wendell passed away.
Andrew: I think both of you have sort of touched on here in a way of how the coverage and the reporting of a local paper in events like this can really differ from national media. I’d like to ask both of you, what you feel is the role of a local paper in something like this, in covering the death of an exceptionally famous resident of the county.
Jane Ashley: I think it's just a little more personal. When I first moved to Henry County and I first met Wendell Berry, I remember being kind of tongue-tied, right? Because I had never met him before. I knew of him, I knew of his work … but for those that live there in the county, he's their neighbor. He writes books, and they know that he's famous outside Henry County, but he's their neighbor, their farmer, their, you know, fellow church member. I mean, he would pop up at city council meetings.
Joe: His P.O. Box was number one in Port Royal, and that's the first thing I learned when I moved to Henry County. That he had P.O. Box number one up at Port Royal, and he was the number one citizen. And we all kind of claim Wendell Berry as our guy.
Andrew: Wendell wrote about a fictionalized version of Port Royal called Port William in many of his stories. Thinking on a local level, what do you hope people take away from the love he had for his corner of the world in Henry County?
Jane Ashley: Well, obviously he could have put his roots down anywhere. I mean, he could have stayed in New York, and had a very good life there. But he chose to come back to Henry County. He chose to come back to the farmland, the soil there. I think his great granddaughter will be the 10th generation to live on a farm there. So his roots run really deep there, and he was proud to be from Henry County.
Joe: When I was speaking to Ben, he was talking about how Wendell … wanted people to get up the next day and go to work, to get back to the ground, to be doing their good things for the their home place. At the help center on Wednesday morning, we bring in food at the food pantry, and on that Wednesday morning, Billy Berry, his daughter-in-law, came walking into the help center to volunteer after going through this great loss, and I told her, “I didn't expect to see you today, but I'm not surprised.” Because that is what Wendell wanted was for people to just carry on, and the whole Berry family that I'm familiar with is like that…They're actually walking the walk, and it's very touching to me.
