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Leave it to Revo to beat Neil Armstrong by one giant leap.
Columnist Jim Reeves arrived at the Star-Telegram in June 1969. Armstrong walked on the moon one month later.Now Revo — that’s what we all call him — has chosen to retire after 40 years at the newspaper, crafting some of the most memorable columns over all or part of the past five decades.Who can forget how he so eloquently portrayed former Texas Rangers manager Johnny Oates in the last days of his life? Revo wrote from a personal place on a professional level. More recently, there was the Michael Vick column. Revo wrote: "I’m Vick’s worst nightmare. I’m a dog lover," then gently surmised that his beloved Nick, a rescued Great Pyrenees recently deceased, most likely would forgive a dog killer. There was another time when Revo learned of a ban on Texas Tech football fans from throwing tortillas onto the field. He sat down and wrote an entire column from a tortilla’s point of view.Reeves, 63, has been to the moon and back — OK, just figuratively — while delivering his weekly Postcards from the Ledge, earning a place in his community, writing roughly 5,000 columns with style, fairness, purpose and command of the language.His approach was flexible. He could find a word, a humorous touch, a gentle phrase to exactly fit the moment. And while he leaves with more seniority than anyone in the S-T sports department (or maybe any department), Revo never tried to pull rank. Too much of a team player for that.He was the Rangers beat writer for a dozen seasons, and covered 27 World Series in all. He covered six Super Bowls, including three won by the Cowboys in the ’90s, as well as the Stars’ 1999 Stanley Cup title run.And if you ever wanted to know what the Rangers were saying around the batting cage or thinking inside the front office ... you read Revo. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for his work on the sale of the Rangers from Eddie Chiles to George W. Bush. He has a place in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.He won two prestigious Katies from the Dallas Press Club, along with numerous other awards, but his favorite might be the 2007 Ethics Award from TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism."I appreciated that someone noticed I was doing ethical stuff," Revo said.He has four grown sons and six granddaughters, ages 7 to 15. His best friend happens to be his wife, Karen, and they share their home with four dogs and two cats — all rescued. Karen is a dog lover, too.We at the Star-Telegram always liked to call him "Our Man Revo," and that part won’t change. He will belong to Fort Worth, forever.Ray Buck, 817-390-7760
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