Paris (Texas) Sports Editor Van Hilburn dies at 46

[chase.colston]

Prayers to Van's family. A sad loss. He was great at his work and a very nice guy.

Long-time sports editor Van Hilburn Jr., 46, died early today at Medical City Hospital where he had undergone several spinal surgeries beginning in early July.

Link: http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=b642236075ec8380

 

[LarryCathey]

Van,

We haven't talked in way too long. That's my fault. When I leave a newspaper, I need to do a better job maintaining contact with my former bosses. You called me a time or two during the past two years, but I never found time to do the same in kind. You might've told me the score if I had. Then again, that shouldn't matter. I still read the Paris News religiously, yet couldn't even be bothered to drop you a note, not even to remind you that no matter what anyone says, those cities shouldn't be pronounced DEEE-troit, Buh-GO-tuh, and DEEE-Kab. Sorry. I was busy. We move on, change time zones and bury ourselves in the new world, working, working, working. Right? That's what I'm telling myself today, anyway. We certainly had our ups and downs; with a two-man staff, how could we not? At times, I thought you were lazy and told you as much, but as I've learned in our time apart, you always were the wise one. Not me. You left work at the office and found time for your family and hobbies. You probably thought I was an asshole for suggesting that you were doing it wrong, that you as a 44-year-old father and husband should be as excited about some bull**** high school game as a 28-year-old dickwad who thought he was smarter than he really was. You had the balance, though. You knew how to live, and you were a better boss than I ever let on. You gave me room to succeed; you gave me room to fail. I learned more from you than I could comprehend at the time. I'm sorry you'll never hear me say that you helped teach me how to live, how to balance work and play. But you did. With any luck, I'll carry that knowledge with me until I join you again. Thanks, Van. You were much more important to me than you ever knew.

-LC

 

[Football_Bat]

Nicely written, Larry.

I was texted the news a few minutes ago by one of my writers (I'm on vacation) and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Bad news from out of nowhere.

I didn't know Van was that young. He'd been at that paper forever.

Looking from the outside, he did a great job covering Paris High himself and having his area covered with one staffer and a few stringers, and you know the work he did was magnified because Paris is still a PM paper, which means too many split shifts to count. He was always helpful whenever we needed a boxscore.

My condolences go out to his family and to the folks in Paris.

 

[JoJo]

I can echo what Larry said, having worked alongside Van for the past two years. I never really had a confrontation with him about having to shoulder what I thought was more than my share of the load at any time. But at the end of the day, Larry's exactly right by saying Van was actually the smart one by not letting his job engulf him.

I talked to him a few times about balancing work with life and he was ALWAYS quick to tell me not to get burned out at work. It was great that he spent a lot of time with his family. I know his wife, daughter and son know without a doubt that their husband/father thought the world of them.

I'll always credit Van for giving me my start in this business at a time when I could have easily been overlooked. He always had faith in me to do my job and was always there for advice when I needed it. That advice, along with joking around and having a lot of fun at work on Saturday nights, will be what I miss most about him.

He was a good friend who loved his job and also loved his family. It was a pleasure to work with him and I hope I can ultimately be known for being as great of a guy as he was.