By WALLYCE TODD

A lot happens in 45 years. Babies are born, lives are lost, crime is committed and deeds are done. In the last 45 years, Columbus County has undergone tremendous change and all the while, some things have stayed the same. Chances are, if there was a topic of interest to those living locally, one woman in the area knew about it, wrote about it, or knew the person who did write about it.

That woman would be Clara Cartrette, and October 23 was the anniversary of her 45 years at The News Reporter. I count it a privilege that I get to write a bit about her life in these last four-and-a-half decades. I am especially grateful for Clara, because she’s been one of my favorite mentors and is a beloved friend.

Clara is a living legacy to community journalism and to the perpetual pursuit of the passion of a heart. She loves what she does, and it shows.

Her impact in our community reaches far and wide and spans generations. I should know. During the first year of her working at the paper, she wrote about my mom and dad’s engagement and marriage. Almost a decade would pass before I was even born.

Now, we’re colleagues, and I’m a better writer because of what I’ve learned from Clara. I want her words to help you understand why. So, I’m going to “hush up” and let a lot of this column be composed of quotes I collected recently when I interviewed the interviewer extraordinaire.

Here’s a bit of what Clara said:

“My first love is writing features, people stories. I’ve learned there’s a story in every person. You just have to pull it out.”

While Clara’s first love may be writing what’s called soft news, she spent more than 20 years writing stories that were as hard as they come: crime and corruption, death and disease, murder and malfeasance. She’s even left home at 4 a.m. in the morning to report on the discovery and destruction of liquor stills or stayed late into the night to make sure a crime story had its facts straight.

She recalls the first time the sheriff called her to the breaking up of an illegal liquor still: “My first one was in January 1968. I remember it because my first (child) was still in diapers.

“(When I got there), the man who was tending the still was handcuffed to a little tree, and I got a really, really good interview from him. The gist of it was that when I asked him if he was the one tending the still, he said, ‘Well, I was.’

“(Later), I said, ‘Well, do you drink this stuff?’ and he said, ‘No Ma’am! If I want something to drink, I go to the sto’!’”

There are lots of other stories she wrote during those two decades of “covering the police beat, the courts, city and county government…” Some of them are ones she cannot ever forget. She lists them as some of the most difficult articles to put on paper, much less to have to witness and record in her mind.

The hardest ones for her “always involved the death of children,” she said.

“I got a call one day that they had found a baby in the landfill. I went out there, and there was this most beautiful baby you’ve ever seen. While I was there, I could function doing my job…but when I started down the road, I had to stop and throw up. Y’know, it just really got to me.”

Clara still gets choked up when she talks about writing about the death of young John McNeil, who died from an accident in his home. At first, the family did not want to be interviewed, and Clara fully understood. Later, however, “Deborah and Sandy had decided that little John did have a story to tell….When they came in, they were so gracious…

“We did the interview and I came back to the office (on deadline) and hurriedly wrote the article and just (cried) through the whole story. But to me, that was such a compliment to me that they trusted me and shared their emotions at a time like that.”

This family’s trust was well placed, and thousands of others have trusted “Miss Clara” to tell their stories over the years. Yet, the community nearly missed the blessing of Clara’s writing.

Back in 1961, Lee Greer at the clerk’s office hired Clara the same day she was hired by Jim High at The News Reporter. The decision to work at the paper came down to her desire to learn something different. She told her mom: “I know I could do that work at the courthouse. (Writing for the paper) sounds like a challenge.”

Clara is self-taught. She married young, worked while her husband attended college and was already a mom with two children when she began her tenure at The News Reporter. A year later, she would win her first NC Press Award with a story she’d written about Mrs. Miriam Bright, local sandwich maker and female business pioneer.

“I was so excited,” Clara recollects about receiving the recognition for her feature story. “I’ve been excited with every one I’ve ever won, but I don’t think I ever had my heart pounding like I did when they called my name (that first time).

“Because, you see, I don’t have a degree in journalism. I just like to write. Here are all these college graduates, people with masters degrees…and here I’m winning an award in this elite group.”

I could go on and on writing about Clara and her career. Maybe I’ll write a book some day. If I do, her life and its stories could easily comprise many chapters.

For now, I am just thankful I get to listen and learn. I’ve even gotten to write about Mrs. Bright 44 years after the first feature. What a blessing.

What’s a true treasure, I think, is that Clara never considered it a promotion to get out of community journalism and into an urban daily, even after she kept getting recognized for her writing.

She says, “After I started winning a lot of press awards, I’d have people say, ‘Why don’t you move up to a daily paper?’ And I’d look at them and say, ‘Why do you think it’s moving up? Country journalism is where it’s happening. In a country setting, you get to write about everything.’”

Yes, everything comes close to accurately describing all that Clara has communicated in ink over the years. In 1992-93, she returned to her roots and began writing features and soft news again.

Now, she’s the first female news editor of The News Reporter. That’s a testament to the results of time and talent. I believe it’s a position well earned and well deserved.

And if Clara has her way, she says she’ll never retire.

“I’m doing what I want to do. I think a good newspaper does provide a community service…and I get to tell all those wonderful stories about people.

“In a world where family owned newspapers are being bought up by big chains, I’m proud to be working (here), especially for people like the Highs.

“As long as I’m able to hobble down, I’ll be here.”