Dorothy Brush, 1922-2013

Dorothy Brush

Dorothy Brush, the small-town chronicler named NSNC’s 2004 Columnist of the Year, died this past summer, member Robert Haught has learned. She was 91.

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists had honored Dorothy for her courageous battle against cancer, during which the NSNC member missed no deadlines at the Crossville (Tenn.) Chronicle — “doing two columns each week, plus a few features, too,” she said.

And she had continued to write until shortly before her passing on June 14, 2013. Her newspaper’s online archives list her “Random Thoughts” column from April, “Quick Henry, the Flit” (Flit was a Depression-era household pesticide).

The Chronicle’s obituary notes that she had written the weekly “Random Thoughts” and “Looking Back” columns for more than 25 years. Survivors include her husband, Earl F. Brush; three sons; one daughter; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

A little over a year ago, Chronicle editor Michael Moser wrote of his fondness for Dorothy in a column of his own, “Dorothy Brush: Loyal to her Craft and Our Readers.” He noted that while he had begun the “Looking Back” column in 1984 he soon turned it over to Dorothy, “and to be honest, she does a much better job in much less time.”

2004-06 NSNC President Suzette Martinez Standring discussed her in a 2010 feature, “Dorothy Brush, an Inspiring Columnist.” Suzette noted that Dorothy may never have missed deadlines but she no longer was able to travel.

“I do miss the NSNC meetings and please give my best to all,” Dorothy wrote Suzette that summer three years ago. “I have no doubt the group will continue onward and upward!”

The NSNC will miss Dorothy Copus Brush, who with resilience and cheer encouraged other writers by word and example.