Wednesday, January 21, 2009
News Tim Bentley, briefly CL's news editor, dies
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Count me as the last to know – having just seen his obit in the AJC – that longtime Atlanta journalist and one-time CL news editor Tim Bentley died two weekends ago at age 55. I don't believe anyone left in editorial here but myself worked with Tim when he joined the paper nearly 10 years ago. That's a shame because he was one of the nicer people I've met in this industry – laid-back, upbeat, funny and very competent.
Tim didn't stay long, no more than a year or so, as I recall. But I got the impression that Tim, who had near-white hair even then, never stayed anywhere very long. He seemed eternally restless to do something different, bouncing between journalism and politics.
By the time I met him, Tim had already written for array of magazines, political newsletters and local newspapers. Between those gigs, he worked on political campaigns for Jimmy Carter, Maynard Jackson, Max Cleland and others. Did I mention he was a Yellow Dog Democrat?
Not long after leaving CL, he was editing Business to Business magazine. I stayed in touch for a few years, partly because Tim was a great sounding board for potential stories, partly because he seemed to know everybody who was anybody in the realm of Georgia politics. But I'm sad to learn we won't be crossing paths again. Ed Bean, editor of the Daily Report, has a fine remembrance of Tim on the Atlanta Press Club website.
Comments (1)
Showing 1-1 of 1
Oh, Man - while cleaning out a cabinet recently, I found a letter to my husband, Ron, and me from Tim, dated January 1994. I really wanted to reconnect with Tim, and sent him a Christmas card on Sat. 12/19/2009, to the last address I had, and which was not returned. So I spent hours trying to find him thru Google. Today I decided to try Bing, and there was his obit. Now I can't seem to stop crying. Tim was a good friend of ours for years, beginning when I met him in 1978 while working for Trust Co. Bank in downtown Atlanta. He came to our house in Florida for several visits, a couple of times on a couple of his honeymoons (I couldn't believe he wanted to spend his honeymoons in one of our little bedrooms, but he did). The last time we saw him, he no longer partook of liquor, but had not given up the cigarettes. Guess they finally got the best of him. We loved Tim, and we still do. What a horrible way to find out where he is now. Oh, Tim. Suzanne McClung, Melbourne, Florida
like
dislike
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
'Ex-gays' gather outside Atlanta this weekend 3
Meanwhile human rights groups fight the notion that "ex-gay" is a thing
-
CNN cancels Atlanta debate 2
Everybody cry
-
ARC's new map of transportation-tax projects is suitable for framing 4
Voters will decide 1-cent sales tax measure in July
- More »
Author Archives
-
Council committee chairfolks no friends of Kasim 18
Some of Council President Ceasar Mitchell's new committee appointments seem odd choices
-
Access to contraceptives could make great wedge issue 32
Rep. Tom Price tries to work cultural divide to diss women
- More »
