Bill Shelton (Editorial)

Those in the newspaper business in Arkansas held William T. Shelton in high esteem.

He was the very model of a true newspaperman — hardworking, honest, fair, smart, tough.

For 33 years he served as city editor of the Arkansas Gazette. In that position, he was the hands-on director of the newspaper’s coverage of the Little Rock Central High School integration crisis — coverage that later won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize.

His death on May 8 at age 85 leaves a gaping hole in the state’s journalism community. There are quite a few still around who remember him as the one who demanded the best from his reporters but also as one who helped them be that better reporter. Many went on to win awards.

After retiring from the Gazette in 1985, Bill Shelton worked part time as a copy editor at the Gazette and then another 5 1/2 years (up until he was 80) as a copy editor at the Pine Bluff Commercial, making the daily trek each day from Little Rock in an old Chevy II that looked like it should have been retired long before he was.

In classic Shelton style, he quit when he was told he would have to punch a time card, something most editorial personnel have never been required to do.

All in this business of reporting the news — including us — would do well to emulate the high standards to which Bill Shelton held his reporters. The entire profession could use more like him.