Dan Eakin, former longtime News-Record staff writer, announced his retirement last week after almost seven decades in the industry.
He is currently the editor of the Silsbee Bee.
A reception will be held in his honor Friday, Aug. 1 at the Bee office.
He began his career at the DeQueen Bee in his hometown of DeQueen, Arkansas when he was still in high school. He turned 86 on Monday, June 30.
He was a copy boy and typesetter.
Dan graduated high school in 1957 and has seen the news business change a lot over the years.
He has been a trusted co-worker and mentor to generations of community journalists.
I know. I was one of them.
Dan and I worked together for almost 10 years here at the News-Record.
His no nonsense approach to news writing, coupled with his keen ability to tactfully navigate communities and their issues, served as a model early in my career.
Another former co-worker, Jason Chlapek, agreed.
“Dan was a doer. He wrote a breaking news story with the same finesse as a feature story,” Chlapek said. “Dan was a pillar of the community and was a friend to many. It was a privilege to not only work with him, but also be a member of his church. It’s a greater privilege to be his friend.”
Chlapek is now the Area Managing Editor of the Taylor Press and Elgin Courier. He also formerly worked at the News-Record.
Martin Friedenthal is a graduate student at the University of North Texas where he is pursuing a Master of Journalism.
Years ago, Dan gave him his first story assignment.
“It was over that kid who won the tie-down roping contest. That was my first-ever story in an actual print newspaper,” Friedenthal said. “Dan was also the reason I applied for an internship at StarLocalMedia. I knew he did good work there at the Lewisville Leader, and I wanted to follow in his tracks… Overall, I wish him the best in health and happiness, and just hope that he can enjoy his life, after having a front row seat to history.”
Juwan Lee is the Assistant Sports Editor at the Tulsa World. He was under Dan’s tutelage at his first job after college— as a sports writer here in Whitesboro.
“Dan was one of my first professional editors. I learned quickly that there was still a tremendous number of things I didn’t know about journalism. None bigger than how important community journalism could be.” Lee said. “His patience, guidance and honesty shaped the journalist I am today. How he was spoken of around the community influenced the type of reporter I wanted to be. The journalism world was lucky to have someone like Dan. His retirement is well deserved and I know his impact on every newsroom he was apart of will last long after his final edit..”
Dan has been an ordained minister about as long as he has been a newspaperman and has devoted his life to working at community newspaper and preaching at small rural churches— predominately in North and East Texas.
While in Grayson County, Dan served as minister of Collinsville Bible Baptist Church for more than a decade.
He currently serves as pastor at Woodrow Baptist Church in Silsbee and doesn’t plan to slow down there.
“My church has about doubled in attendance in recent months, and I need to give it more of my time and attention,” Dan told publisher Dennis Phillips last week.
Dan’s newspaper career has included stints in Texarkana, Lufkin, Tyler, Wichita Falls, the Dallas Morning News, Pilot Point, Red Oak, Coppell, Canton and Whitesboro— to name a few.
“I’ve always kept a job at a small church and a community newspaper,” Dan said. “I’ve probably pastored at 30 different churches and worked at just as many different newspapers over the years. But I have always been intentional to keep the church and newspaper separate. I’m not Brother Dan at the office -- I’m just Dan.”
He has been the editor in Silsbee since 2023 when he left Whitesboro to be closer to family.
Dan was at the Lufkin News when it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977.
He covered the State Legislature for the Tyler Morning Telegraph in the 1970s and was dispatched to Washington, D.C. to cover Jimmy Carter’s inauguration.
To date, Dan has either photographed or interviewed every Texas governor since John Connally.
He owned and published East Texas Senior in the 1980s— a niche publication that covered 25 counties in the Piney Woods.
Though this chapter of Dan’s career may be ending, I doubt he’ll slow down.
Dan does not know how to slow down.
The countless readers in countless communities he has served over the decades are a testament to that.
A come-and-go reception will be in Dan’s honor from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1 at the Silsbee Bee, 404 Hwy 96 South, Silsbee, Texas.
