New Opinion Page Editor Pleased To Return To Region

I started my career about 60 miles away – a cub reporter assigned to cover the coal industry, without any real understanding of its importance. I’ve often told people that all I knew then was that coal was black and it came out of the ground.

Within a year, I’d toured a coal prep plant, traveled underground, seen surface mining from the air and covered the worst mine accident in 35 years. Thankfully, to this day, nothing in Virginia has equaled the enormity of the Southmountain mine explosion that killed eight men outside Norton.

I remember bitter discomfort – numbing cold, the profound agony of waiting and countless hurting people who did not have answers about their loved ones. They wanted to be alone, but it was my job to stay. I tried to be human, to be respectful, but to stand my ground when people muttered about “the danged press” intruding.

I realize now that living through those days was a great lesson for doing this work. Can you stay in a difficult situation and act in a professional way? Can you manage the cold? Can you handle the wait? Can you work under pressure, even when you hurt emotionally?

The mine disaster is an extreme example, certainly, but one I am glad to have weathered early on. You can be taught to be a better writer, but you must profess compassion and patience to do journalism well. You have to hang in even when the going is tough.

This region is welcoming in many ways, but coal was a hard beat to break into as a 23-year-old woman who was not from around here. I was following middle-aged men around on strip jobs, and some did not think I belonged. “Yaint from around here,” several told me, while pointing out that I talked a mite funny with my Norfolk accent.

I made stupid mistakes early on (thankfully few in print) and got pulled aside by a mining engineer who decided to take me on as his project. We spent hours driving around, him explaining the basics – a coal seam, rib, bench, mine roof, roof bolts, how explosives work, how coal pillars are “pulled.” He never steered me wrong and never wanted credit. Mistakes were galling to him, and he didn’t want me making any.

Back then I lived in a one-bedroom apartment, three flights up and across the street from The Coalfield Progress in downtown Norton. I covered coal, natural gas, the environment, education, local government, assorted feature stories and anything else that came my way. I learned like all young reporters do – by immersion and repetition, working long hours on a small staff.

I held various jobs at that newspaper – reporter, columnist and later, managing editor. I did the “important” jobs, like covering elections and interviewing governors and congressmen. I also did the really important work like typesetting recipes, obituaries and letters to the editor. I designed pages and helped pick photographs. I came in early and stayed late.

Eventually I married and had three beautiful children. I became an editor and helped teach other reporters what I had learned. At home, I nested more. With the help of the Wise County Extension Office, I taught myself to can jelly and jam. I grew flowers and herbs and took them to the county fair. I was involved in school activities with my children.

And over time, my funny way of talking mattered less and less. I knew I was finally accepted when I left three years ago to return to the Hampton Roads area. A tireless community volunteer called me to wish me well and told me that my leaving was a huge loss for Wise County. Wow! I felt like Sally Field.

I also enjoyed my three-year run at The Virginian-Pilot. It is a creative, exciting place to work and full of curious journalists who care deeply about their community. Several reporters on my teams racked up prizes for their work. And it was fantastic to live near my parents again.

But the tug to return here never let up. My children hated traveling across Virginia to spend time with each of their parents. Years of driving 900-mile round trips only lessens its appeal. So I am grateful for a chance to return to this region and be near the family and friends I love.

More than a year ago, I had approached the editor here about an opening. I told him I had once worked nearby and that I wanted to come back. The job was already filled, he told me, but the door opened just a crack. When the opinion page editor job came open, I called him again. The second time around, it was like talking to a friend.

Some people are tickled over my return. Others may want to spit. The best thing about this region is people tell it straight – if you want to give me a word of encouragement, you will. If you think I need straightening out, you’ll deliver that, too. Expect the same from me.

All I ask is this: Share your opinions with me on these pages; by letter, by e-mail, by phone. This time I’m a not a “come here,” but a “come back here,” by design.

Suzanne Tate is the new opinion page editor of the Bristol Herald Courier and can be reached at or (276) 645-2534.