Wonderful West Virginia

Wonderful West Virginia

Bookshelf

Problems with Book Orders

Photo Gallery

Coming Attractions

Send Comments

Large Print Request

Subscribe

Change of Address

Submission Guidelines

Search Articles

Magazine Archives

FAQ

Home

Click Here to Read This Months' Feature: The Mill and Much More: Babcock State Park

Ribbon of Solitude

Photo Gallery

Remembering Arnout “Sonny” Hyde, Jr. September 7, 1937 - August 9, 2005
by untitled

Click the thumbnails below to view larger image

It is with a saddened heart that I tell you that our Editor in Chief, Arnout “Sonny” Hyde, Jr., has passed away. Sonny died on August 9, 2005. Even through the last months of his illness he remained involved with the magazine, picking the covers right up to the end. This month’s cover by Van Slider is the last one he selected.
To honor his memory, we will be dedicating the January 2006 issue to Sonny’s photographs, excerpts from an unpublished memoir he wrote shortly before his death, and reflections from the many state photographers he inspired. Wonderful West Virginia magazine will continue to flourish and to depict our beautiful state in all its majestic glory, but we will deeply miss the flair with which his keen eyes framed this place we call home.
Sonny and Wonderful West Virginia magazine were synonymous for more than 30 years. Through his photography, the state’s natural beauty was elegantly and dramatically portrayed to readers throughout the nation. Each month, thousands of subscribers eagerly anticipated his photo essays. Displaced “Mountaineers” constantly requested more photographs “from home,” and Sonny always obliged.
His photographic abilities are widely known, but his story-telling skills were just as great. During staff meetings he would regale us with tales about the difficulties of getting a particular shot or the wonderful people he met while on assignment throughout the state. Many of those stories have graced our pages, including those about Fayetteville’s late Flying Frank Thomas and Bluefield’s Melvin Grubb––wonderful stories about the wonderful people of West Virginia.
Sonny was a gentle man, a loving husband and father, and a mentor to many aspiring photographers and writers. He never met a stranger and always had a kind word for everyone. I count myself fortunate to have been able to work with him and have him as a mentor. Governor Joe Manchin III summed it up best, “West Virginia has lost a good man; and I have lost a true friend.”
Excepting some moves as a child and a stint in the army, Sonny lived in West Virginia his entire life and published a number of highly acclaimed coffee table pictorial books, calendars, and a series of note cards that showcased the beauty of the state. While he dedicated much of his career to photographing his beloved Mountain State, he also completed photo assignments in China, Europe, Israel, and across North America. His photographs have appeared in National Geographic, Life, Reader’s Digest, and National Wildlife, as well as Wonderful West Virginia, and he had more than 500 magazine covers to his credit.
His honors include the 2004 Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2000 Governor’s Award for Visual Artist of the Year, an honorary doctorate from Alderson Broaddus College, and Distinguished West Virginian awards from three governors.
Heaven is now enriched, and as for Almost Heaven? Well, we’re just going to have to leaf through our old issues of Wonderful West Virginia to see just how good we looked in Sonny’s eyes.

Harry F. Price
Publisher

An example of the elegant color isolation images Sonny experimented with later in his career.

Twin Falls State Park

Early morning on the Gauley River

The chute at Holly River State Park

Bookshelf | Photo Gallery | Coming Attractions | Send Comments | Large Print Request | Subscribe
Change of Address | Submission Guidelines | Search Articles | FAQ | Home

©2004. Site designed and hosted by Citynet. Wonderful West Virginia Magazine.