When Dwight Lewis was a student at what is now known as Old Austin High School in Knoxville, Tenn., he had his heart set on being a professional baseball player when he grew up. He did not expect journalism to get in the way — for 40 years.
Lewis, a seasoned newspaper reporter named editorial page editor of The Tennessean in 2008, is set to retire this fall. Since launching his career in March 1971, the 63-year-old Lewis has made his mark in history as a fierce advocate for those historically ignored by the press and politicians.
During those same years, as he traveled the state and nation and did a stint as a Washington correspondent, Lewis often had a front-row seat in interviews with scores of more well-known people from boxing great Muhammad Ali to convicted assassin James Earl Ray (until his dying day he insisted he did not kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) to President Obama.
“Other than being a professional baseball player like I wanted to be growing up, I can’t think of a career that would have been more enjoyable,” says Lewis, a 1972 graduate of Tennessee State University where he played on the school’s baseball team for three years and served as editor of the campus newspaper, The Meter.
In a recent interview, Lewis, who also taught college journalism part time for more than a decade, took a break from his hectic schedule to reflect on his career, the news business today and what it was like when he started as a college-campus stringer in Nashville for The Tennessean.
Diverse: Why did you pick journalism over baseball?
Lewis: That was easy. When you can’t hit, you can’t make it to the majors (he laughed).
