OPINION:
Wes Pruden so reminded me of my late dad, Arnold P. Simmons, who was 20 years his elder.
Both were students of history, masters in many things — especially faith and family — and lovers of brimmed hats, cultural mores and seersucker.
Both also respected chains of command and wore eyeglasses, and when my daddy took his off and put down the newspaper, we Simmons kids knew it was time to listen.
When Wes would take off his eyeglasses during news meetings, keen observers knew he was doing the listening and to be prepared to hit the record button for whatever was about to be said.
A correspondent, managing editor, editor emeritus and columnist, Wes was a newspaper mentor on many fronts.
No yellow journalism. And if you were wise, you quickly learned that meant no fake news, too.
Tagging is not art; it is graffiti.
There’s a bright line between objective reporting and making yourself, the reporter, the subject of the news.
A deadline is immutable.
Newspapers are educational tools, and one of Wes’ favorite history textbook chapters, so to speak, was the Civil War, which The Washington Times formerly devoted a special page to on weekends.
See, Wes, like my dad, knew that there’s really nothing new under the sun, and that readin’, writin’ and ’rithematic were as fundamental to life lessons as faith and deserved higher rankings.
Wes was also a genteel man, the kind of man who used crisp language in his writings and in his speech but never left misunderstandings. Instead, he left you chuckling or saying, “Thank you.”
I thanked Wes on too many occasions to list them all here. So allow this short one as an example. Once, during an event at The Times, Wes referred to me as a veteran newsman. Afterward, several women and men, thought I should have taken offense. I tossed their biased harrumphing aside and said they, too, should appreciate that Wes assured that women writers and editors at The Times weren’t designated survivors of “women’s news.”
Admirable as well is that as an editor, he used the skill of a surgeon to “Prudenize” copy, turning a phrase, refocusing a headline or introducing a dependent clause that occasionally went unthanked. I can’t imagine he minded.
Wes, who died July 17 at his D.C. home, was 83. He had inhaled a lot over those decades, and worked hard to make sure that reporters and editors of The Washington Times passed what they had inhaled onto readers.
A funeral for him is set for 11 a.m. Friday, July 26, at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 5500 River Rd., Bethesda.
Some appreciations often end with RIP. I heard something special, though. It’s the sound of Little David strumming welcoming hallelujah tunes on his harp for James Wesley Pruden Jr.
A fitting welcoming for a man and his words.
⦁ Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
