Author: Jim Bentley and Jeff Nesmith

Jim Bentley joined The Constitution in 1958 and served as a reporter, assistant city editor, night city editor and city editor until leaving to join the Tennessee Valley Authority as director of information in February 1979. When offered a job as the first Cox Washington news editor, he jumped at it. He retired at the end of 1993 and moved with his wife, Pat, to Jekyll Island, Ga.

Jeff Nesmith was hired by The Constitution in the mid-1960s. He was a prize-winning reporter, held several editing jobs, married fellow reporter Achsah Posey and moved north to the Philadelphia Bulletin. When the Bulletin crumbled, the Nesmiths moved to Washington, where Achsah was a speech writer for Jimmy Carter and Jeff rejoined Cox in the Washington bureau. He won numerous journalism awards, including a Pulitzer, before the Internet stole the classified ads. Their granddaughter is the most important visitor to their home in Alexandria, Va.