As a boy growing up on a Wise County ranch, young Roy Eaton ’59 could not wait for a chance to escape to big-city Fort Worth. Years later, however, he jumped at the chance to return to his roots, as owner of his hometown newspaper.

After years as one of Fort Worth’s most recognizable journalists, the consummate newsman and his wife, Jeannine, bought the Wise County Messenger in 1973 and have spent the last 30 years providing the budding county northwest of Fort Worth with quality local news.

When the opportunity to return to Wise County — a place Eaton describes as “far enough from Fort Worth to be a ‘real’ community”– arose in late 1972, he was as eager to move his young family to the to the community-oriented county. The National Newspaper Association recently honored Eaton’s commitment to community journalism by awarding him the Gen. James O. Amos Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nominated by fellow alumnus Jerry Tidwell ’67, publisher of the Granbury-based Hood County News, Eaton says the award came as a total surprise. It’s an honor to be recognized, he says.

Eaton’s journalism career started during his freshman year at TCU, when he landed a part-time job as reporter for Fort Worth’s radio station KXOL in July 1956. In 1968, he became news director at Fort Worth’s WBAP. Two years later he moved to WBAP-TV, now NBC-5, where he served as director of television news coverage and a news anchorman.

An avid antique car collector with many career honors to his credit, Eaton considers providing his hometown with a stellar local newspaper his greatest professional achievement. Published twice weekly, the Wise County Messenger, boasts a growing county seat, paid circulation of 7,000 and an overall market of nearly 21,000 non-subscribers.