Former Traveler Staffers Inducted to Hall of Honor

The Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism inducted four alumni into the department's Hall of Honor during a reception Nov. 4 on the eve of Homecoming. Phyllis Dillaha Brandon, Jim Faulkner and Cone and Betty Magie were honored during the department's sixth induction.

Dignitaries at the event included Alan B. Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas System, and Dave Gearhart, vice chancellor for advancement, and his wife, Jane Gearhart, an alumnus of the journalism department and the Traveler staff.

Brandon, the editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's High Profile section in Little Rock, worked on The Traveler in mid-1950s, first as a staff writer and then as associate editor.

Faulkner, who now lives in Little Rock, worked as a staff writer in 1949 and a sports writer in 1950. After graduation, he founded Faulkner and Associates, on of the state's most successful advertising agencies.

Cone Magie worked as reporter for The Traveler in 1946 after discharge from military obligations during World War II. He and his wife, Betty, started the Cabot Star in 1955 and soon bought out the other newspaper in town, forming the Cabot Star-Herald. They have since acquired other community newspapers nearby, and their son, Mark Magie, a UA journalism alumnus and former Traveler staffer, still runs the papers.

Other journalism alumni who attended the Hall of Honor included Brenda Blagg, Robert McCord, Gerald Jordan, Jeff Smith, Gina King, Laura Jacobs, Donna Lonchar, Jerry McConnell, Jerol Garrison, Holly Brain Williams, Michelle Parks and Denise Malan.

Other Traveler staffers previously inducted to the Hall of Honor include Skip Rutherford, Jerol Garrison, Jerry McConnell, Robert McCord, Ron Robinson and Jim Morriss.