Words For Man Of Words

Earl Swift: NORFOLK

He found poetry in tomatoes, corn bread, in old dogs and the scent of magnolia blossoms. He found romance, adventure and inspiration in the past and its stories. He found dignity, and decency, in practically everyone he met.

And in a newspaper career that spanned 60 years, Guy Friddell found a place in history: He died early Saturday at age 92, one of Virginia's favorite contemporary writers.

Literary, lyrical and uncompromisingly liberal, Friddell's thousands of columns for The Virginian-Pilot and its late sister, the afternoon Ledger-Star, earned a wide and devoted following and established him as his community's conscience. His subjects included politics, which he…