Marge Swayne Revisited

Looking back over my career in journalism, which started not long after I hosted the first Taber Reunion in Lynchburg in the 1980s, I would have to say that the model for much of my writing is Gladys Taber.

It was Gladys that literally drew me into my current position as lifestyle editor of The Farmville Herald.

When I decided to host the Taber Reunion I wanted to research the Tabers’ stay in Lynchburg, not an easy task since they had not lived there since the 1920’s. The Lynchburg newspaper referred me to their former social editor, then retired, Lib Wiley.

As writers go, Lib was a real pioneer and another wonderful role model, She was a woman in the newsroom in the days before women were really welcome there. During her tenure at the paper she had interviewed such celebrities as Pearl Buck, Bess Truman, and Eleanor Roosevelt, not to mention Gladys Taber.

Lib and I spent several delightful months digging through old files and records, and she helped me locate several women living in nursing homes in Lynchburg who actually knew the Tabers when they were in Lynchburg.

Lib added fuel to a spark Gladys Taber’s columns had started many years before — a desire to share experiences by writing about them.

Encouraged by these two role models, I started writing a column for The Herald in the mid-1980s. After several weeks of reporting the community news, I decided to add stories about our farm, the dogs and cats, and, of course, my goats. Local readers seemed to love my stories about life in the country, and I’ve been writing “Down the Back Road” ever since.

When The Herald’s lifestyle editor (who had a Ph.D. in English) left the paper in 1992, I applied for the job. My credentials were not nearly as impressive as hers were, but The Herald hired me anyway.

I really love my job and writing for a small town newspaper. There are many opportunities to help both individuals and organizations with the stories we write. Just a few months ago I wrote about a local doctor, originally from Ghana, who is raising money to build clinics in his home country where there is no health care. He subsequently held a benefit auction and dinner and raised $23,000.

Since I became the lifestyle editor (which if really a fancy title for my one-woman department) I have been learning on the job in the areas of writing and photography. Considering the fact that I had no formal training in journalism, I was especially proud to win the sweepstakes award in the statewide communication contest held by the Virginia Press Women for the past two years.

I know Lib Wiley, who passed away in 1994, would be proud, and I like to think that Gladys Taber, who influenced my early years so profoundly, would be as well.

~Marge Swayne