Remembering...

For decades, Dennis Spies worked to make sure the Amarillo Globe-News got out -- on time, every day. He was managing editor of the newspaper when I went to work there in 1992, and he helped me a lot as I was starting out in the business. Dennis passed away on Saturday, so I wanted to share a few memories.

Dennis interviewed me for an internship at the paper while I was still in college. I didn't get that job.

Then, when I was hired as a copy editor two years later, Dennis helped me become a better editor. It wasn't always fun when you saw him walking toward your desk with a marked-up tear sheet in his hand. It usually meant he had found a mistake. But sometimes, he just wanted to show us how we could have made the page better. I learned so much from him, and it made me a better copy editor.

Dennis was an old-school editor who saw many changes in the newspaper industry, like the change from hot metal to electronic type. He started at the Globe-News as a reporter in 1966 and worked his way up through the newsroom to managing editor.

He retired from the paper in 2001 only to return a few years later. This time, he was the editor who was directly over the copy desk. I was excited to get to work with him again. And again, he tried to share his years of experience with us. He had weekly staff meetings for the copy editors. We weren't always thrilled to see him walk in with his stack of marked-up newspapers, but it paid off in helping us make the paper better.

When he left the Globe-News again, he took a position as editor of The Pampa News. He drove back and forth from Amarillo to Pampa for a couple of years. I really enjoyed reading the folksy columns that he wrote for the paper. I'm sure he improved the Pampa paper in the time he was there.

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The Pampa News sure could have used Dennis' eagle eye last week. It had a doozy of a mistake in the obituaries! Of all the sections in the paper, the obituaries are the worst place to make a mistake. But, not surprisingly, The Pampa News managed to do it again. There were three obituaries with pictures, and somehow, the paper had the same name under all three photos. Ooops! That's why you NEVER use "copy and paste" on namelines. I noticed the paper re-ran all three obituaries the next day.

If only Dennis had been there! He was a great editor and an even better friend. He will be greatly missed.