'Our Town' Loses a Prominent Citizen

If you grew up in Arkansas, as I did, the name Richard Allin will always be special.

A columnist at the Arkansas Gazette for many, many years, Allin passed away of heart failure Thursday. He was the author of the "Our Town" column, first at the Gazette and then at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in the years after the Democrat acquired the rival Gazette in 1991.

When he retired in 2004, Allin was voted the most favorite columnist by Democrat-Gazette readers. He went to work at the Gazette in 1963 and took over the "Our Town" column two years later.

I knew Richard Allin. I wouldn't say we were close friends or anything like that, but we were acquaintances when I worked on the Gazette copy desk from 1984 to 1988. He was a gentleman and one of the most entertaining writers I've ever known.

According to the account from the Associated Press, Allin wrote, in his final column, that he "ate raccoon at Murry's, pig ears and snout in Paris, haggis in Inverness, Scotland, roadkill turtle in New Orleans and baked beans on toast in England — all in the name of duty. I have had more fun writing the Our Town column than any man is supposed to. I cherish every moment."

He was 77. But he was in his 50s when I knew him. And I've heard he was in poor health in his final days and weeks.

Rest in peace.