Bill Strode, Pulitzer-winning photographer, 69
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Colleague calls him 'one of the best'
By Paula Burba
pbu...@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Bill Strode, a former Courier-Journal photographer who shared two of
the newspaper's Pulitzer Prizes, died of cancer yesterday.
He was 69 and died under Hospice care at a friend's home in Versailles,
Ky., according to his business partner, Joe Paul Pruett.
Strode, a Louisville native, "was one of the most accomplished
photographers ever in the state of Kentucky, as well as nationally,"
Courier-Journal photographer Bill Luster said.
Former Courier-Journal director of photography C. Thomas Hardin
described Strode as "gifted," citing a two-month assignment documenting
the Vietnam War as "extremely fine coverage, much of it with local
ties."
Strode joined The Courier-Journal full time in 1960, after working two
summers at the paper while attending Western Kentucky University.
In 1966, before he was 30, the National Press Photographers Association
named Strode as its "Photographer of the Year" -- its highest honor. He
served as the group's president in 1974 and later received its
President's Award.
By 1967, he was assistant director of photography for The
Courier-Journal and Louisville Times and later edited the Sunday
Magazine.
Also in 1967, he was a member of a Courier-Journal team that won a
Pulitzer for Public Service for a series about strip mining. His second
Pulitzer came in 1976, as part of the newspaper's coverage of
court-ordered busing in Jefferson County.
While working on the strip-mining project, Strode was arrested in Knott
County while attempting to photograph a 61-year-old widow, Ollie Combs,
who was protesting the mining.
He later wrote of the incident: "The sheriff asked who I was. I told
him. He produced a handful of 'John Doe' warrants and said he had a
warrant for my arrest. He reached for one of the two cameras I carried
and we fought for it. The strap broke and the camera skidded away in
the loose dirt. I got to it first and kept it. I had 3½ hours in jail
before I was released, so I took pictures through the bars of Mrs.
Combs, who was being held in a police car outside -- and of myself."
Strode left the newspaper in 1976 to work freelance, including jobs
with National Geographic, Life, Time, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian,
Esquire, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
In 1984, he co-founded Harmony House, a publishing house in Goshen,
Ky., specializing in photography books, with Bill Butler.
"Bill was probably one of the most underappreciated photographers
ever," Butler said in a recent interview. "When you shoot for National
Geographic, you're one of the best. He was in that fraternity."
Strode's work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New
York and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Charlene
photographer for The Courier-Journal and was named national
Photographer of the Year before he was 30, died of cancer. He was 68.
Strode later established his own book-publishing company and freelanced
for The New York Times, Time, Life, National Geographic and other
publications. His photos appeared in exhibitions at the Smithsonian
Institution and Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York and at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville.
He died Monday at a friend's home in Versailles, Ky., where he was
under Hospice care, according to his business partner, Joe Paul Pruett.
Strode "was one of the most accomplished photographers ever in the
state of Kentucky, as well as nationally," Courier-Journal photographer
Bill Luster said.
He was Photographer of the Year in 1966, named by the National Press
Photographers Association. He was the group's president in 1974 and
later received its President's Award.
In 1967, he was a member of a Courier-Journal team that won a Pulitzer
for Public Service for a series about strip mining. In 1976, he earned
his second Pulitzer as part of the newspaper's coverage of
court-ordered busing in Jefferson County.
He co-founded Harmony House, a publishing house in Goshen, Ky.,
specializing in photography books, in 1984.
Survivors include four children, Michelle Strode Bartholomew and Erin
Hall Strode, both of Louisville; Hope Ives Strode of Eugene Ore.; and
Charlotte Alexander Strode of Boston; and his companion for 10 years,
Jane Gentry Vance of Versailles.
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