[Photo courtesy of Senate Press Office]
The Georgia legislature honored the late-Dick Pettys, who covered the Gold Dome for years for the AP and then as Editor of InsiderAdvantage, with an amazing portrait painted by another InsiderAdvantage/James Magazine alum, syndicated columnist Dick Yarborough. The portrait was unveiled in the Senate where Senate Pro Tem David Shafer offered the following statement:
“Dick Pettys covered Georgia politics for over one third of a century — from Governors Lester Maddox and Jimmy Carter to the election of the first Republican, Governor Sonny Perdue.
“He was the undisputed dean of the Capitol Press Corps. A consummate professional, he reported the events of the day with accuracy and insight, and in doing so, held the powerful to account.
“He was a good man, a warm and friendly human being, someone that we all respected and many loved.
“Last year, we passed Senate Resolution 203, naming the Senate Press Gallery in his honor. The House passed House Resolution 766, commissioning a portrait in his honor.
“We are here today to unveil that portrait, which will hang across the street in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building in the hallway to the press offices that Dick Pettys traveled daily, to thank and recognize its creator, another great Georgian, Dick Yarborough and to once again welcome the Pettys family to the Chamber.”
Pettys was much loved by those he worked with including his colleagues at InsiderAdvantage. Journalistic luminaries who have been part of InsiderAvantage over the years include Pettys; former AJC Political Editor and Insider on-line founder (Bill Shipp’s Georgia) Bill Shipp; former AJC National Political Editor Tom Baxter; longtime Washington insider Hastings Wyman, founder of the Southern Political Report;, as well as Mr. Yarborough. Other alumni of the company have moved on to the political arena, such as Joan Kirchner, now Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson.
Pettys’s sons noted how Mr. Yarborough’s portrait captured their father’s look. Insider CEO Matt Towery said “The painting will serve as a reminder to all future journalists of a standard of fairness and even temper required of great reporters. And Dick was one of the greats, not just in Georgia, but nationally.”
