At 81, Glenvall Estes has decided to end his long career as a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat.

For 57 years, the easygoing, conversational Estes style has entertained, educated and inspired readers of the newspaper, both sports lovers and those who simply knew they liked the evenhanded way he wrote about real people and events.

&uot;I think it’s time for me to hang it up,&uot; Estes said earlier this week, back at the newspaper offices for a visit and accompanied by his wife of 65 years, Lorene.

&uot;I’ll never forget my experience writing sports for The Democrat, my newspaper,&uot; he said, smiling, throwing his head back slightly to emphasize the pride his words conveyed. &uot;The people here and everywhere have been just plain wonderful to me.&uot;

Estes began writing for The Democrat in 1947. He had a fulltime job elsewhere, but in his spare time liked to hang around the sports desk at the newspaper. He became friends with sportswriter Norman Matthews, who recognized both the enthusiasm and the talent within Estes.

&uot;I remember him telling me, ‘you’re a natural. I want you to start writing,’&uot; Estes said. &uot;I began covering games, came in pretty regularly. The next year, 1948, I began writing the column.&uot;

The &uot;Just Talkin’&uot; column has a following that crosses three generations and has covered sports in the Natchez area as well as state and national events in the conversational Estes style.

&uot;He’s a legend,&uot; said Tony Byrne, one of the outstanding high school athletes Estes wrote about in the 1950s, who went on to become mayor of Natchez.

&uot;He is the one who has kept all us old athletes alive, and he really is a legend among sports writers in Mississippi. He had a flair for writing with such sincerity and always in a positive way.&uot;

In 1974, he was elected president of the Mississippi Sportswriters Association. In 1982, Estes was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. More recently, he was honored by the Miss-Lou Chapter of the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.

Former professional football great Joe Fortunato, who heads up the local Hall of Fame, said Estes deserved the honor.

&uot;He has done an outstanding job writing about sports, keeping up with the old times but also bringing in the new, too,&uot; Fortunato said.

Estes was not a great athlete but always admired the competitive spirit of those who played the games, he said. Even more, he loved the story each player had to tell.

Byrne said many people do not know the great success story of Estes’ own life &045; the death of his mother when he was a small boy, his family’s struggles during the Great Depression era.

Estes was 15 when he married his sweetheart. He spent some time in the Navy during World War II. And he began working at Armstrong Tire and Rubber Co., &uot;a good job, one of the better ones,&uot; he said. &uot;I worked in the tire room as a band builder probably for 30 years.&uot;

He and his wife had four sons, Tommy, Donald, Billy Wayne and Terry, and one daughter, Jeanne.

After Armstrong, Estes made a run at a political office and was elected Adams County tax collector for several terms, serving for 13 years before retiring. All the while, he continued to write about baseball, football, basketball &045; all sports and the people who made the games interesting.

To the last column, he continued to use his old manual typewriter. It is old-fashioned, but it suited him fine, he said. &uot;I just hunt and peck. But I hunt and peck faster than I can think,&uot; he said.

&uot;Glenvall Estes’ time at The Democrat has spanned countless editors and sports editors and changes at the newspaper, but what has not changed is his great enthusiasm for Miss-Lou sports and readers’ affection for him,&uot; Democrat Editor

Kerry Whipple

said. &uot;Our sports page will not quite be the same without him.&uot;

Byrne said Estes always will be highly regarded in his hometown and state. &uot;I never stopped calling him Mr. Estes, just out of the great respect I have for him,&uot; Byrne said. &uot;He has done a wonderful job.&uot;