"By Your Presence the Truth Was Known"

		(1 of 3) Herb, with his cowboy hat and Texas smile, attended a reunion of the KFWB "Hollywood Boulevard Gang" in Studio City, CA in the late 1990's.

Shortly after I wrote the previous chapter, Carolyn and I lost our dear friend, Herb Humphries, who is mentioned a number of times. He died suddenly in his home in Gladewater, Texas on August 24, 2003. We drove to the funeral and I was one of the speakers. Another was Ruth Jacobs, a close friend who had known Herb from his days at KFWB. Herb had settled in Gladewater ... his hometown ... after retiring from KMOV-TV in St. Louis.

Many of his friends at the funeral were also his classmates in Gladewater more than 60 years ago. His passing has left a void in many lives.

Herb had a companion in the last few years of his life ... a Schnauzer by the name of Sir Dudley. Dudley is as sweet a dog as you'll ever know. Often, when I would talk with Herb, Dudley would be sleeping on his lap in Herb's front room easy chair. Dudley was brought to the cemetery for Herb's burial. Our photo album contains a snapshot taken at the funeral. In the picture, Carolyn is petting Dudley, Ruth Jacobs is watching and so is a TV news producer named Clint Houston who was befriended by Herb in the mid-1960's. Herb affectionately called Clint "the Kid" and became his mentor. Clint never forgot that friendship.

As Carolyn and I left Gladewater for the drive back to L.A. after the funeral, we stopped briefly at Herb's graveside to pay our last respects. His gravestone reads "By Your Presence the Truth Was Known" ... words from a trophy presented to Herb for outstanding radio reporting in L.A. It befits Herb. As a journalist, he put a high value on telling the truth. And in life, as well, Herb's word was his bond.

He was both our best man and our best friend. We miss him.

9/5/2003