When I arrived at the Daily Times on Monday morning, June 14, 1982, one of the first people I met was Bert Hodge.
I was the new assistant city editor. And scared to death.
Bert was the dayside photographer. He immediately marched up to my desk and introduced himself. It was part of my job to set up photo assignments for the day.
But those technicalities could wait. It was clear Bert wanted to know a little more about me, and I was more than happy to talk to anyone to ward off the queasy feeling emanating from my stomach on my first day of work.
We soon found out we shared something other than journalism.
Bert served in the U.S. Air Force when he got out of high school in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, where he grew up. He wound up at one of the best photography schools in the world - the United States For Force Photo School at Lowrey Air Force Base in Denver, Colo.
I had spent two years living in Denver and those finished my final two years of school at the University of Colorado in Boulder. A friend from the same town where I grew up was stationed at Lowrey, and I spent some time there.
Bert and I shared stories about life in Colorado.
For the next couple of decades, we would share a lot more than that.
Bert was not a photographer, he was a photojournalist. His images dominated the front page of the Daily Times more times than I can count.
A lot of those days I was the lead designer for that front page. Every time we were chasing a big story that was going to be the lead the next day, we would go through the same routine. Bert would get back into the office, and I would immediately inform him I needed something for Page One.
He never let me down.
Bert was old school. He knew a little bit about the rough and tumble of putting together a newspaper every day. On more than one occasion, Bert got bumped around while trying to get a photo. It was part of the job.
Back in those days, photographers developed their film and actually made prints that they then turned into the photo desk. You could always tell a Bert Hodge photo. It had life. It told a story. It often stood on its down.
Bert Hodge died over the weekend. He was 82. He worked at the Daily Times for 33 years.
Over the years, Bert and his wife, Lois, were almost like another set of parents to those of us who grew up here at the newspaper. They watched us get married, have kids, and watched as those kids grew up. They had parties at their house, where they met our spouses. They always wanted to know what our kids were doing.
They were just as proud of their own kids, and with good reason.
He and Lois always made it a point to kid me when they would see me at staff gatherings and parties since. They both had a passion for the Daily Times and cared deeply about what happened to it, and what appeared in those pages every day.
That's because Bert Hodge cared about his craft, and the people who create it ever day.
I've missed Bert Hodge just about every day since he retired a few years ago.
I miss him even more today.
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