Reporters Reminisce

Following is an e-mail exchange between myself and Bob Ingram, the leading political reporter in Alabama during the last half of the 20th Century. It needs to be read from the bottom up.

Ray...what a delight to hear from a fellow journalists who I have long muchly admired...thank you so much. And I agree, Al Benn was most generous in his story in Advertiser this a.m.

I could tell you a half dozen stories about the "day I died" when in fact it was Bob Engle. Both of us had experienced heart trouble some months earlier, and the name similarity did indeed cause a lot of confusion. Bessie Ford, then of the UPI, called the Alabama Magazine office that day to get details on my funeral...Starr Smith called Lt. Gov. Beasley and he got on what we called in those days his WATS line and called dozen of folks...Edith and I went to one of those Masked Balls that night and half dozen people nearly fainted when theys saw a dead man walking! It was a wild experience....I had of course never heard the story you shared with me...that sounds just like Johnson.

Now that I am on a roll..must tell a Johnson story which is quite relevant to your story. He and Wayne Greenhaw went by hospital to visit Joe Azbell, who was on his death bed. Joe was complaining about his treatment at hospital and said they didnt even have clock in his room..never knew what time it was. After they left Wayne and Tom went down bypass to K Mart, bought a wrist watch for Joe as a gift. It was a cheap, $10 watch. When clerk suggested they might want to get a spare battery for the twatch, Johnson replied: "He won't need it." Joe died a couple of days later. Wayne still winces when he tells that story.

Thanks again for the most thoughtful note...hope you are as healthy as I am...I am at this moment headed for the tennis court. Play two or three times a week, and I am talking serious tennis...none of this pitty-patty stuff. I have a problem caused by the chemo I took 11 years ago when I whipped cancer...have to go to cancer center every two weeks for an injection to hopefully give my damaged bone marrow a boost...but as my doctor said, at my age something else will kill me before this does!

Bob Ingram

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Jenkins [mailto:rayj.balt@verizon.net]
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 8:22 AM
To: robertbingram3513@charter.net
Subject: Congratulations! ! !

Good morning Bob --

I just read Al Benn's fine account of the richly deserved encomiums you received on your 80th.

To be honest, I didn't realize you were five years ahead of me on the golden chart. I'd forgotten that you were one of the Greatest Generation as a Marine. (I defended Worth County as a member of the Future Farmers of America brigade.)

I can't resist adding one more slightly morbid story for your scrapbook. I may have told you, but it's worth repeating.

One day around 1975 I was sitting at my desk, trying to find some conclusion in an editorial I was concocting, when I received a call from a Reliable Source that Bob Ingram had suffered a heart attack while playing golf at the Woodley and had died. As soon as I gathered my wits I called Tom Johnson to see if he had heard anything. He hadn't, but we spent the next 20 minutes commiserating over the loss of our very dearest friend on earth. All petty slights of the past were forgiven and forgotten as we reflected on your great service to mankind. I think we both were quietly picking one another's brains for ideas for the editorial it was now our sad duty to write.

I had no sooner hung up the phone than it rang again. My Reliable Source (I can't recall who it was) called back to say there had been a terrible mistake. The corpse wasn't Bob INGRAM. It was Bob ENGLE.

I immediately called Johnson and we both took back all the nice things we said about the late and lamented Bob Ingram. I think Johnson vaguely suggested that the only honorable thing would be for Ingram to jump off the bridge into the Alabama River.

On to 90!!!!!!!

-- Ray & Bettina