In Memoriam: Tom Gish and Bob Hale

Eastern Kentucky lost two media legends this week. Tom Gish, the courageous publisher of The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, passed away Friday at Pikeville Medical Center. He was 82. According to the AP, Gish, along with his wife Pat, "overcame floods, threats, arson and attempted suppression to deliver news in the weekly publication with the slogan: 'It Screams!'" Editor & Publisher has the AP's obituary here. Even if you disagree with Gish, you have to agree that he had the guts to take on the issues that faced Appalachia: public corruption, education, poverty, and the environmental effects of coal mining. Gish's funeral was held today (Monday) at Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church in Whitesburg. Click here to read about the funeral from WYMT.

On Sunday (yesterday), Bob Hale, the longtime co-host of the Faron & Bob morning show on WSGS-FM in Hazard and the station's engineer, passed away at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington after a stroke caused by complications from triple-bypass heart surgery. For nearly 40 years, he was a mainstay at the station. He was also a guitarist. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 3:30pm at the Hindman Funeral Services chapel in Hindman, with visitation there tomorrow night (Tuesday) from 6-9pm. Click here for an audio tribute to Hale. (Windows Media Player required) Click here to read more from WYMT.


My prayers go out to the Gish and Hale families. Post your memories of Gish and Hale in the comments section.