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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.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Still standing by her man, Richard Scrushy's wife insinuates Satanic conspiracy in prosecution of former HealthSouth CEO
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — From 2003 to 2007, countless photos published in newspapers around the world showed former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy walking to and from courthouses in Birmingham and Montgomery over criminal charges against him as the head of the multi-billion dollar company. More often than not, his wife, Leslie, was right by his side. On Thursday, the former Florida Junior Miss runner-up-turned-entrepreneur-turned televangelist who had stood by Scrushy for so many years as he weathered indictments and criminal trials stood by him yet again in Montgomery as the disgraced businessman sought the U.S. government's help in clearing his name in his 2006 federal conviction on bribery and extortion charges. Richard and Leslie Scrushy were married on June 7, 1997 in a lavish wedding at the former estate of British playwright Noel Coward in Jamaica. It was Scrushy's third marriage, not a year after divorcing his second wife, Karon Brooks. In press reports at the time, guests included Martha Stewart, who reportedly helped plan the wedding, as well as singer Emmylou Harris, who stopped by and sang during the reception. Over the years, between state and federal trials, the Scrushys went through a lot. In the midst of Richard Scrushy's first trial in Birmingham, he and his wife began hosting 'Viewpoint with Richard and Leslie Scrushy,' a half-hour Christian talk show on local television. As the daughter of a Methodist minister, Leslie Scrushy knew how to wax poetic about God and often hosted the show herself when her husband was in court or awaiting trial. More than that, Leslie was Scrushy's rock. 'Leslie Scrushy reviewed FBI statements, questioned strategy and offered insight into how the jury viewed testimony,' reporter Janet Guyon wrote in a profile of her in The Washington Post in 2006. 'She led prayers before each day in court and dished the dirt on witnesses during recesses.' After Richard Scrushy's conviction in 2006, the wealth that he and Leslie had enjoyed for years was slowly stripped away, from their vacation homes to their boats. According to The Birmingham News, the couple handed over between $10 million to $12 million to HealthSouth to disprove claims that Leslie was hiding her husband's money. This included Mrs. Scrushy being forced to give up $3 million worth of jewelry, as well as $2.3 million in cash and investments. Nevertheless, she continued to keep the faith. 'God is just as good today as he was a year ago yesterday,' Leslie told The Birmingham News following her husband's conviction. 'And he works all things together for good. And so we'll see as time unfolds what good comes out of this day for us.' As Richard Scrushy served his time in a Texas federal prison, Leslie would visit him every weekend she could for five years, trekking 1,200 miles roundtrip each time before eventually moving the family to Texas to be closer to him. During the press conference Thursday, Scrushy looked behind him to Leslie and two of their children, Gracie Beth and Jaden, thanking them for their support. 'I don't know, Leslie, I don't want to ask you to say anything unless you want to, baby,' Scrushy said to Leslie. Initially, Leslie Scrushy shied away from the microphones pointed at her husband. However, within a few minutes, she slowly made her way next to her beleaguered husband to offer her perspective– a spiritual one– on what the last 20 years had done to her family. However, rather than talk about losing their once-luxurious life, Leslie addressed another aspect of what bothered her about her husband's trial, one that insinuated more Biblical evil on the part of the prosecutors than corruption. 'On the day that he was arraigned here and they read the charges, he was charged with Statute 666, so that was very clear to me where this attack was coming from,' she said. Specifically, the statute deals with theft and bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, but that's not what Scrushy was talking about. During her comments, she emphasized a tie to her husband's case and '666,' known as 'the mark of the beast' in the Bible that signifies the Antichrist. Scrushy didn't stop there. 'And then, when the prosecutors rested their case, they rested their case on June 6 of 2006. 666,' she said. She also drew a Biblical connection with the names of three of the people at the center of her husband's case: U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller, U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. and Assistant U.S. Attorney. Stephen P. Feaga. 'From my perspective, it was a conspiracy that required Franklin, Feaga and Fuller all to accomplish,' she said. 'If you look at their names, they all start with the letter 'F,' which is the sixth letter of the alphabet, so part of how I made it through was to continue to pray to God, to thank him for all of the blessings that we see.' She said that while going through her husband's whole ordeal was difficult, she was thankful in her faith that led to a better life. 'Was it hard? Yes. Were there so many gut punches? Yes. Did we feel abandoned? Yes. Was it horrific at so many points and turns? Yes, but I am so thankful to my savior, to the father in heaven for getting us through this day and that our children are still doing well and thriving.' With that, Leslie Scrushy stepped back to be with her children. 'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Leslie,' Richard Scrushy said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
