Carroll Edward Lisby

Carroll Edward
Lisby
June 6, 1931-
October 19, 2012
Columbus, GA- Carroll Edward Lisby, the only individual to serve as editor of both the Columbus Ledger and the Columbus Enquirer before their consolidation into the Ledger-Enquirer, died Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, at 5:20 p.m., the result of post-surgical complications from polio and post-polio syndrome, with which he contended most of his adult life. He was 81. Funeral services will be held at Vance-Brooks Chapel, Saturday, October 27, 2012, at 2 p.m., followed by interment in Riverdale Cemetery, Monday, October 29, 2012, at 10 a.m. The family will receive friends, Friday, October 26, 2012, 6-9 p.m., at Vance-Brooks Funeral Home, 4048 Macon Road, which is in charge of arrangements. Mr. Lisby was born June 6, 1931, in Florence, Alabama, the youngest child and only son of Edward Carroll and Nina Olivette Kimbrel Lisby. He was educated in Florence public schools and graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1947 at Coffee County High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (1950) and a Masters of Arts degree (1958), both in Journalism from the University of Alabama. His master's thesis was titled: "A Study of the Influence of Newspapers on Public Support of the States' Rights Movement in Alabama, 1948-1950." He married Mary J. O'Mary of Carbon Hill, Alabama, on Aug. 25, 1951. They would have three children - Gregory Carroll, Nina Elizabeth, and Jeffrey Edward - and celebrated their sixty-first wedding anniversary in 2012. His younger son, Jeffrey "Jay" Lisby, died in 2004. Mr. Lisby began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Florence (Alabama) Times in 1950. He subsequently worked as a reporter for the Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News and as city editor for the Decatur (Alabama) Daily News before accepting a reporting position with the Columbus Ledger in 1954. He was a member of the team of Ledger reporters that won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for "public service" for news coverage of the municipal corruption clean-up in Phenix City. In 1955, Mr. Lisby contracted polio, which caused the paralysis of his right leg and partial paralysis of his left leg. Until the effects of his polio returned in the form of post-polio syndrome in the late 1990s - after which time he was permanently confined to a wheelchair - he walked with crutches and leg braces. During his treatment for polio in 1955-1956, he spent time at Warm Springs, Georgia (where President Franklin D. Roosevelt earlier had also been treated for polio) and while there, wrote a series of articles for the Columbus Ledger, which were syndicated throughout the United States and also internationally, titled, "I Was Struck Down by Polio." In addition, he started and edited a mimeographed newsletter, The Wheelchair Review, for patients there.
From 1956 onward, Mr. Lisby worked successively as copy editor, telegraph/wire editor, news editor, Sunday editor, managing editor, and editor of the Ledger, subsequently also working as editor of the Columbus Enquirer after the two papers were purchased by Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Inc., in 1974. From 1974-1988, he also served as chairman of the Ledger-Enquirer editorial board and as senior editor of the Ledger-Enquirer from 1988-1990, after the two newspapers merged morning and evening editions into a single publication. Through the years, he won eight statewide "first place" editorial writing awards, as well as a national "first place" editorial writing award from the American Newspaper Publishers Association, in addition to many other professional honors and accolades. Mr. Lisby retired in 1990, after a 36-year career in journalism, though he continued to write occasional editorial columns for several more years. Afterwards, he published two books, based in part on his past Ledger-Enquirer columns: In This World It Rains on the Just and Unjust Alike … But Somehow the Unjust Have All the Just's Umbrellas (1994), and Committee of One (2004). In retirement, he enjoyed his two favorite pastimes: appreciating and collecting celebrated jazz recordings, and developing card tricks for magicians, while also (in his words) acting as "a doorman" for the several cats who came to claim his house as their own, including his favorite, Olivia, a Manx whose tail he never had to worry would be in the path of his wheelchair. His lifelong interests in magic and humor converged with the 2010 publication of Presto! Laughter: More Than 2,800 New Laugh-Lines for Your Favorite Magic Tricks, a book to help magicians enliven their performances. He dedicated it to his wife, "who patiently indulges a husband who likes to think he's a comedian." Mr. Lisby was a Christian who worshiped at the Edgewood church of Christ (formerly, the Norris Road church of Christ). For about 30 years he taught the Young Adults Bible class, even long after those attending could not readily be classified as young adults. He also served the church as deacon in charge of education and later as an elder. His wisdom and quiet counsel were highly valued. Survivors include his wife, Mary Lisby of Columbus, Georgia; his son, Greg Lisby of Lilburn, Georgia; his daughter, Nina Beth Reeves of Lawrenceville, Georgia; five grandchildren, Melissa Anderson Matheny of Johnstown, Colorado, Amanda Lisby Gray of Roswell, Georgia, and Natasha Elizabeth Reeves, Luke Sanderson Reeves and Mark Davidson Reeves, all of Lawrenceville, Georgia; a great-granddaughter, Madison Rose Anderson of Johnstown, Colorado; and his sister, Margaret Lisby Melville of Lexington, Kentucky. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to: "University of Alabama - Jay Lisby Scholarship," c/o Neely Portera, Director of Development, College of Communication & Information Sciences, University of Alabama, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.