|
|
Mike Moser Politicians will miss
this colorful journalist "What is that?" I asked a colleague
one evening years ago when attending my first Tennessee Press
Association meeting in Nashville. We were at a reception at the
Governor's Mansion when Lamar Alexander was in the state executive
office. I pointed toward a splash of colors run amuck
and looked incredulously at the face under the red-headed crowned
woman. "That's Drue," I was told. "She
has been in Nashville covering the state forever and everyone
knows Drue." Drue Smith died last Thursday night in a Nashville
hospital where she was taken after collapsing earlier in the
day. How old she was is anyone's guess, and her age was just
a much a mystery as were the color patterns she wore on a daily
basis. She was believed to be at least in her 80s. Journalism has always had its cast of characters
known for eccentricities, flamboyances and individualisms, but
on any given day, Drue Smith could have led the parade. Having covered Nashville politics under the
last six Tennessee governors, Drue Smith carried a larger-than-life
persona that transcended her skills as a reporter known for getting
to the bottom line on any story she was working. For 50 years she covered hundreds of state
and national lawmakers. She was a pioneer woman journalist at
a time when she had no female peers in her field. She actually started out in radio, the first
full-time female broadcaster to cover the state capitol for United
Press International. She later would work for WLAC-AM, the Tennessee
Radio Network and other media outlets. She has so many honors and plaudits it would
take a pickup truck to haul off all the awards and was the first
honorary member of the Tennessee General Assembly. Those were nice, but what meant more to Drue
was her membership and work for the Nashville chapter of the
Society of Professional Journalists, an organization she served
as president. No one could challenge her genuine love and dedication
to that organization. No one out-dressed Drue, who has been seen
in everything from pink hair, splashy colors, oversize gaudy
glasses and sequins. She picked out many of her outfits from
the discards of country music entertainers who had donated them
to Goodwill, The Tennessean reported. She also shopped at Lillie
Rubin's. "I like colors," she once said in an interview. "My favorite color's hot pink. Look at all these older women from behind. They wear dark shoes, light hose, a different colored suit and a stole around their shoulders. They've cut themselves off four times from
top to bottom, which makes them look short and fat. I don't need
to look like either." She added that colors amused and entertained
her. Accolades came in from former vice president
Al Gore to U.S. Rep. Bob Clement and Gov. Don Sundquist, all
remembering her appearance fill the state capitol, yet also remembering
her unique style and skills as a journalist. And just maybe she knew something the rest
of us didn't realize. When participating in pack journalism,
it is important to stand out so that you can be recognized. Drue
did both. And she did more than that ... she paved the
way for many women journalists to follow her to Nashville to
cover state and national politics. While never considering herself
a pioneer, she was a pioneer journalist at a time when women
reporters in Nashville could be counted on one hand. It is ironic that at the passing of the colorful Drue Smith, political arenas in Nashville will be a bit grayer because of her passing. · · · |