Latest news with #BobCarlton
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AL.com's Bob Carlton looks back on 46 years covering food across Alabama as he heads for retirement
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (TRIBUNE) — As longtime food and culture writer Bob Carlton retires from Alabama Media Group, he took a moment to look back on his career in a recent interview. During a recent episode of 'Tribune Unscripted,' an online show hosted by Trussville Tribune Publisher Scott Buttram, Carlton discussed his career covering the food beat for The Birmingham News and as well as some of his memories working in journalism over the years. Friday marks Carlton's last day at before his retirement, marking the end of 46 years with the news organization, which he first joined as an intern in 1979 and full-time in 1980. Watch the full interview above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bob Carlton, longtime writer who has covered food and all things Alabama for 45 years, retiring from AL.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — On his X profile, the bio for Bob Carlton is short, yet covers far more than any one sentence ever could. 'I write about Southern food and culture and all things Alabama for The Birmingham News, This is Alabama and It's a Southern Thing,' the line reads. It's a description that has covered the breadth of Carlton's work for decades at The Birmingham News, then transitioning into the digital age with and its subsidiary, This is Alabama, working as everything from a copyeditor to a book reviewer, film critic, feature writer and food reporter since 1980. On May 30, Carlton will retire from the news organization he has spent his entire professional life. 'My whole career has been a real rewarding career for me, especially these last couple of months that I've gotten to reconnect with people I've worked with and people I've written about,' Carlton said on the 'Down in Alabama' podcast with Ike Morgan Monday. Carlton, who first started at The Birmingham News as a summer intern in 1979 while a student at the University of Alabama, is one of the longest tenured journalists at covering a large swath of Alabama culture in the decades he's worked at the News. Although his career has covered everything from writing about Jimmy Nabors' pool table to the 40th anniversary of the Woodlawn/Banks high school football game, Carlton's best known work in recent years has been his coverage of Southern food and those who make it, many of those newspapers pieces nailed to the walls of countless restaurants across Birmingham and the whole of the state. During his time covering food, which he took over for former News food editor Jo-Ellen O'Hara in 2008, Carlton has covered the rise of Birmingham's food scene on the national stage, from Frank Stitt's Highlands Bar and Grill named Most Outstanding Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2018 to a local scandal a few years later when the foundation disqualified Timothy Hontzas of Johnny's Restaurant in Homewood from getting an award after a report of him allegedly yelling at an employee and several customers. Among the countless stories he has written throughout his career, Carlton counted his obituary of Bright Star owner Jimmy Koikos as among his favorite pieces. It was an assignment he received after getting a call from the late restauranteur in the early part of 2019. 'He said 'Come out to the restaurant. I want to talk to you about something,'' Carlton recalled. 'He had found out he was dying of cancer and he said 'I want you to write my obituary.'' Carlton worked for months on the piece, talking to everyone from former Alabama football coach Gene Stallings to members of Koikos' family. The piece ran on November 16, 2019, the day Koikos died. 'It was really special that he trusted me to write that story,' he said. 'In a bittersweet way, it was one of my favorite things that I've ever worked on.' Carlton said he has different things he'd like to do in life after journalism, from travelling with his family to volunteering, but don't expect him to go away entirely. 'I have the opportunity, and I believe I'm going to take advantage of it, to do freelance work on a limited basis, so you might not see the end of my byline' he said. 'I may be back on the site again in a very sporadic basis in a couple of months after I take some time off.' Looking back over his career, Carlton said he has had a rewarding career. 'The thing I enjoy most about my job is that I get to meet everyday people who do everyday, but remarkable, things and they're unsung heroes, if you'd like,' he said. 'You get to interview them and hear their stories. Some of them I've become friends with through writing about them because they're just nice people ,neat people, people you'd like to know better. I couldn't pick one person from that, but there are dozens of people like that I meet and continue to meet.' You can listen to the full interview here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
