Randy
Riggs, who I knew, admired and, yes, loved for more than a half century, is
gone, lost to his beloved family and many friends after a quiet and valiant
two-year battle against that most merciless of adversaries – cancer.
Randy was a brilliant writer and had a well-tuned sense of humor. He first produced laugh-out-loud observations about the absurdity and mayhem of the world in columns he wrote for the student newspaper at North Texas State University, now UNT, in the early 1970s.
He easily could have become a humor writer for any newspaper in the country. He was that funny. But instead, he chose sports writing as his trade and poured all of his sizable talent into bringing to life for his readers the infinite variety of sports. He spent the last 36 years of his brilliant career at the Austin American Stateman before retiring in 2013.
For a time during our college careers, we worked together on the staff of the student-produced North Texas Daily. When I was chosen as Daily editor in Fall 1972, Randy was the first person I asked to join my staff. His cool judgment and sound advice saved my ass more than once.
Later, we became roommates in Lubbock when we both worked for the Avalanche Journal.
By the time I arrived at the paper in 1974, Randy already was a star on the Sports Desk. We rarely saw each other. He worked days and frequently was on the road covering one team or another, and I was the night cops reporter.
Randy, bless him, showed great patience and forbearance as my roommate. He endured silently the night I brought home after deadline five or six colleagues from the night shift for an “early breakfast.” The gathering broke up about an hour before Randy had to be up for work.
Even today, I wince a bit at my selfish disregard for Randy’s feelings and my utter lack of respect. Randy never uttered a word in protest or rebuke.
He and I caught up with each other again at the American Statesman. There, too, Randy was a standout on the Sports Desk, which was peopled with talented reporters and columnists. But Randy was special – in so many ways. I know his colleagues and friends there are in mourning today.
My heart, too, is heavy today. My condolences go to his wife, Patti, and his children, Adam and Katy.
Many of my old friends are of an age when this sort of loss becomes more frequent. Randy was 71 and is the third member of my North Texas Daily staff to die from cancer. Steve Monk and Joseph McAnally, great friends for many years, both were taken by the Big C.
I’m comforted, strangely, by a scene I imagine taking place in the Great Beyond. Steve, Joe and Randy are together, drinking beer and reminiscing about the wild and crazy days at North Texas. They're having a grand time.
Soon enough, I suppose, I’ll be joining them. Randy will look up and rumble, “Gunnels, you’re late.”
