Dick McBane's memories of Don Bandy

Don was always a pleasure to be around; totally dependable as a reporter and rewrite man; great to deal with when phoning in a story. When you talked to Don you always knew the story would turn out okay.

At the end of our BJ careers, Don and I worked together, retired on the same day, and had a joint party. What I remember most from that was Gloria Irwin saying, "I've lost my entire staff!" And, incidentally, Gloria was another of the really good editors from the BJ's glory days.

-- Dick McBane

Retired and now living in Lilburn, Georgia. Lilburn is an Atlanta suburb on the northeast side, outside the I-285 beltway. Married to Marilynn, as I was during my BJ career, and we are about a quarter of a mile from our oldest son, Lachlan, and his family -- three grandsons and a granddaughter.

Our younger son, Roderick, went to the University of Houston, discovered he could play softball year-round, and still lives in a Houston suburb with a wife and one son. Lachlan is a violist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Roderick is a math professor at Houston Community College.

I will turn 76 in August, and Marilynn and I will mark our 49th anniversary in October.

-- Dick McBane


Dick and Don retired from the BJ June 11, 1997. Don wrote an article that day about Dick's retirement. Typical of Don, he didn't mention that he also was retiring that day. It was Don's last story for the BJ.