DPA Bicentennial Edition, 1976, p 19-G: Her byline stood for excellence

   The history of McMinn County would not be complete without a few columns of print being
written about a newspaper person whose name was a household word in this area for over half 
a century.    Daisy Rice Spradling was a newspaper reporter, a feature writer, a society editor,
a correspondent for metropolitan papers and an overall individual with "ink in her blood" 
which had to come out and it did in fine articles for threescore years.

   Born in 1884, Daisy Rice grew up in an era that was filled with amazing things and as she 
advanced into the 1900's she grew with the changing of the times and her style of writing made 
her feature articles something to be cherished.

   Her day by day reporting was concise and factual.  Her correspondence to the Chattanooga 
Times was always given top billing.  She learned to use a camera and had she lived into today's 
modern age, she would have been on the side of liberation.
 
 However, to Daisy, she was never anything but liberated.  She loved her family and instilled her
pride in newspaper work into her son, O.R. (Soz) Spradling, who himself was one of the best 
linotype operators.. However, when ever a story "broke" one could count on Daisy knowing 
about it and getting it down in print.

   That is why that today, eight years later following her death in 1968 at the age of 84, she is 
well remembered in the printing profession and it is recalled that the "byline" by Daisy Rice
Spradling meant a good story.

   She helped write a part of the Bicentennial history of this area.

For more info on the Daisy Rice Spradling  family contact William L. Bigham.

William L. Bigham
452 County Road 754,
Riceville, TN 37370
 

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