I've known Clay since he and Jackie moved down here from KY in the mid-90's. I am sick when I think of him being gone. We were supposed to have lunch this week, he said, "just the two of us." He was really excited about learning to shoot and edit video and I looked forward to catching up with him. Each and every year when the VOLS play Big Blue, Clay would be there. I'm going to try to find a photo of him from one of the many UT-KY games that he attended sand post it here. If you have photos of Clay from whatever era, please e-mail them to me so I can make a photo book for Jackie and his Mom and Dad. E-mail to: pat@pmrphoto.com
Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts here... He was such a good guy...
patrick murphy-racey :(
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Clay will be missed by many. I've know Clay for the 6 years I've lived in Knoxville. He gave me freelance opportunities with the News-Sentinel, and sent countless freelance jobs to me. His generosity really helped me get a start to my own business here in town. It was always a pleasure to see him as he did always have a smile for you.
ReplyDelete- Jason Davis
You'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer, more easy-going person than Clay. He enjoyed life, his friends, his hobbies and most of all, his family.
ReplyDeleteI always looked forward to seeing him at the beginning of the week, and exchanging our weekend tales.
His pleasant demeanor was a welcome spot in a typical newsroom, and will be missed by many, many people.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Jackie and their families...
I am so sorry to hear the news of Clay's passing. Clay & Jackie have to be two of the nicest people I've had the privilege of having as friends and I can't believe he is gone. He has been such a good friend over the years and will definitely be missed by everyone whose life he touched. I am praying for Jackie and their families as they deal with this terrible loss.
ReplyDeleteI will always remember the good times we had at UK, working long hours for the school paper as we pursued our passion to become photojournalist. The summer we spent as roommates while interning for the Los Angeles Times was a blast. We were two country boys in the big city...and we both had an amazing time. The photographers and editors started calling us the "Moonshine Boys" because of our southern accents and it didn't take long for the nickname to stick. To this day, our friends from LA still refer to us as the Moonshine Boys.
Tonight, I'm going to raise a glass of fine Kentucky Bourbon to toast my good friend and say goodbye.
Clay was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, just genuinely nice and he will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
ReplyDeleteLinda and I are heartbroken. Clay was such a genuinely good person, always ready with a smile and laugh. We'll always remember him as the easy-going fresh-faced kid that he was during our time together at UK & the Kernel. Although we have not seen him in many years, Facebook provided a recent, but short connection to Clay and many great past memories. Our hearts go out to Jackie and Clay's parents. Alan, I'm with you on toasting our friend this sad, sad evening.
ReplyDeleteI was very sad to hear the news about Clay's death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to Jackie and their families. I knew Clay from our years together working at the University of Kentucky's student newspaper back in the 1980s. He was such a kind, nice, soft-spoken person. He had no ego and a lot of talent. He was a good man, and he'll be greatly missed.
ReplyDeleteWe all had our moments back in that Kernel newsroom in the 1980s. Everyone's entitled to a fit, or rant now and then. But I honestly cannot recall a single instance in which Clay was not coolheaded, easygoing and pleasant. If he had one, I never saw or heard a hint of it. That someone as talented as Clay carried himself with such humility is rare enough, but pour in Clay's good humor and curiosity about the lives of others and you have a truly remarkable individual. I feel lucky to have known him and Jackie both. Of course, we've all spread ourselves all over the world since those days, and for me it's been a long time since I was in the same room with most of the Kernel folk, but it still feels like a family that's suffered a big loss. Keeping you in my thoughts Jackie.
ReplyDeleteDan Hassert asked that I post this for him. Dan wrote:
ReplyDeleteFor we writers at the UK paper who were fumbling around trying to figure out how journalism worked and what it was about, Clay and some of the other photographers (like Alan above) seemed like professionals placed in our midst.
They were the talent to our clumsy.
Clay was good then. For his skills to have improved over the last 20 years . . . well, that's truly saying something.
And he did it, like T.J. said, with humor and humility.
Jackie, it's been a long time. I'm shocked and sorry about your loss.
Peace,
Dan Hassert