A lesson I never seem to learn is “Never say never.” Just when I thought I dispensed a full-proof “never,” my tastes change or I’m forced into a position that causes me to acquiesce my “nevers” and submit to something I said I’d never do. And humility is born. When I was six, if you asked me to eat Chinese food, I’d have told you, with resounding exclamation, “NEVER!” Today, I would live in the back of a Chinese restaurant if I could…or if there was no such thing as weight gain.
But maybe sometimes Never is a lesson you never have to learn, not fully at least, because sometimes it’s good to say Never, because sometimes our characters are established by as many “nevers” as by other, less-discriminated, proclamations. Say, always.
Sun Day columnist and Sun City resident Don Grady said “never” about one thing, and I’ll FOREVER remember him for it.
It is with true and great sadness that I inform you that Don Grady, author of the highly read Frugal Forum column, passed away in the morning hours of Monday, July 14 after a brief but strong battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. Although Don was a great man, husband, and father in all regards, as a newspaper owner and editor, the greatest thing I can say about Don was that he NEVER missed an edition of Frugal Forum, which he authored for nearly 110 editions. This is a major accomplishment by any standard of writing and more so from a man, who I later found out, hadn’t previously been a writer.
The creative demand on writers is fantastically great, and to find a writer who can handle deadlines, foster his creativity, keep ideas fresh, know his/her audience, manage public criticism, and remain dependable deadline after deadline is rare and hard…golden when that person is found. Don Grady was golden. By my count, Don wrote approx. 55,000 words for the Sun Day, and he never failed the readers or the paper. Even after he was diagnosed as terminal with minimal time, Don continued to write. Don missed only one edition, the one of the week he passed. If Don Grady wasn’t a writer, then I don’t know what one looks like.
When Don contacted me a few months ago to inform me of his condition, the news hit me hard on a professional level but even harder on a personal level because Don was one of the first (if not the first, pardon my memory) person to approach me about writing a column for the Sun Day, before the newspaper opened.
A very big part of my heart is devoted to Don and the other early writers and supporters for the Sun Day because without them, the paper would never have made it. And that’s a never I’m certain of. Don added traction to an endeavor that pulled my family away from the brink, and I’m grateful. More than grateful.
Don’s wife and daughter told me at his wake that it was always his dream to write for a newspaper. I found a certain cohesion in that I was able to help fulfill Don’s dream while he helped fulfill mine. Continue to dream big, Don.
Editor’s note: Don Grady’s last column of Frugal Forum ran in our July 3 edition. Unfortunately, it ran with a slight formatting mistake and the wrong headline. In honor of Don, the Sun Day is rerunning the column “How much money do you need when you retire?” with the correct headline and formatting in this edition on page 9. This edition is dedicated to Frugal Forum author Don Grady.
