My career began as a high school junior, working as a spring sports and obit clerk at my hometown Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Miss. back in 1967.
I worked as a sports writer at the now-closed Jackson (Miss.) Daily News, where I covered Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Ole Miss, Delta State and Jackson State in addition to high school and recreational sports.
I've also worked at newspapers in Texas (Harlingen, Childress, Plainview, San Angelo and Big Spring), Arkansas (Fayetteville), Nebraska (Scottsbluff), North Carolina (Thomasville) and Louisiana (Bogalusa) and have covered just about everything.
A few career highlights include:
• Winning (along with my regional editor Bob Rhodes) the Associated Press' Special Section of the Year Award for over coverage of the 1993 Mississippi River flood.
• Being recognized by the Texas State Senate in 2001 for my work in the Lone Star State ... as a newspaperman and as a community volunteer/activist.
• The Thomasville (NC) Times being recognized by the University of North Carolina for its efforts to energize the community through increased local reporting.
• The Bogalusa Daily News being named Louisiana Newspaper of the Year in 2008 and the American Correctional Association's National Newspaper of the Year in 2008.
• Helping more than 30 staff members develop their skills to the point they could move into a more responsible position, whether at the same paper or moving on.
• Knowing that every day I worked, it was my goal to do the right thing for the right reason ... that is a philosophy I espoused to my staff at every stop in my career.
• To have fun, because work is ... well ... work. I always told my coworkers that when the job was no longer fun, it was time to find something else to do. That's why I'm no longer working on Avenue V.
— John H. Walker
