Veteran AP Georgia Newsman Dick Pettys Dies at 66 - ABC News

From Georgia's last segregationist governor to the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction, Dick Pettys covered Georgia politics for The Associated Press for more than three decades. His reputation for fair and accurate reporting won him the respect of fellow journalists and the state's most prominent politicians.

Gov. Lester Maddox, nearing the end of his term when Pettys began working for The AP at the state Capitol in 1970, called him "the long-haired devil" but continued to keep in touch with Pettys by phone long after he left office. To the statehouse press corps, Pettys became known as "the dean," who over the course of 35 years developed a vast institutional memory and a knack for mentoring newcomers.

Pettys, 66, died Monday at his north Georgia home outside of Clarkesville. His son, Richard R. Pettys Jr., said he suffered a massive heart attack.

"He was an excellent reporter who got the facts right and wrote it well," former Sen. Zell Miller, who knew Pettys for decades, said Tuesday. "I'm really sorry he's gone because he had a lot of Georgia history in his head and I kept hoping he would write a book. I had tremendous respect for him."

In a Monday Feb. 2, 2004 photo, Associated Press staff writer Dick Pettys, left, jokingly holds up a recorder to get offhand comments, to the laughter of House Speaker Pro Tempore Dubose Porter, center, and Majority Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre, during a celebration of his 35 years with AP covering the State House, pictured after the general session at the capitol in Atlanta. Pettys, who was a fixture at the Georgia state Capitol for more than three decades and a well-respected mentor to other journalists, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 following a massive heart attack at his north Georgia home. He was 66. (AP Photo/John Amis) Close

When Jimmy Carter ran for the White House in 1976, The AP assigned Pettys to travel with his campaign. His news stories helped introduce Americans to the peanut farmer who would become president. Decades later, in November 2002, Pettys was breaking the news that Georgians had elected Sonny Perdue their first Republican governor in more than 130 years.

Pettys retired from The AP in 2005, but spent several more years writing on Georgia politics for the website InsiderAdvantage Georgia.

"For years, Dick was every Georgian's eyes and ears on the state budget and those who controlled it," said Maryann Mrowca, the AP's assistant bureau chief for the South Atlantic Region. "Even when politicians did not like what he reported, they knew he was fair, accurate and kept the same eagle eye on all in power to make sure they were held accountable for their actions and inactions."

An insider with a reputation for evenhanded reporting, Pettys had the ear of everyone from governors and House speakers to low-level clerks and was respected by Democrats and Republicans alike.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Tuesday he admired Pettys for upholding "the highest standards of reporting and excellence."

Former Gov. Roy Barnes said he learned early in his political career to always shoot straight with Pettys, and to return his phone calls. Barnes recalled receiving a teasing message from the reporter who had become impatient waiting for a comment from the governor's press office.

"He sent me an email and says, 'I need to talk to you. Do you want me to just make up what you're going to say or do you want to talk to me?'" Barnes said. "I picked up the phone and said, 'I'd rather you hear it from me.' He would never do that. But he was just telling me how frustrated he was."

Bill Shipp, a longtime political columnist and a Georgia journalism institution in his own right, knew Pettys from the beginning of his career covering politics.

"Dick over the years set the standard for the rest of us as a down-the-middle reporter who knew how to bring the news to everyone in a clear, concise and unbiased manner," Shipp said. "He was the best there is."