Behind the Headlines

Friday brings to a close the 42-year career of staff
photographer Frank Anderson. Loyal readers of the Herald-Leader – and the
Lexington Herald and the Lexington Leader before the papers combined in 1983 –
will miss his contributions to their newspaper, whether or not they knew Frank
personally.

From the mundane to the dramatic, Frank’s pictures have
reflected the lives and the passions of Central Kentuckians for more than four
decades. He began learning his craft in the early 1960s as a darkroom
technician for the late Herald photographer E. Martin Jessee. Frank became a
full-time staff photographer in 1965.

Frank has covered every conceivable newspaper assignment,
from tea parties to presidential visits, “pets of the week” to NCAA Final
Fours, coal mine disasters – and 39 Kentucky Derbies.

Frank’s favorite area of coverage was thoroughbred horses.
He covered all aspects of the horse business, from breeding to racing to a top
female jockey battling cancer. In 2003, he won the Eclipse Award in
photography, thoroughbred racing’s highest honor.

Over the years, Frank never lost his competitive spirit as a
photographer; he always wanted that big lead photo on the front page. That
spirit is one thing we’ll miss about him around the photo department.

To many of us, Frank has been much more than a fellow staff
photographer. He’s been a mentor, a colleague and a good friend. His endless supply of jokes and outrageous
stories has kept us entertained for years. We wish him well in retirement, but
we’ll miss him greatly.

A gallery of Frank’s images and a story about him are in the
Free Time section of Thursday’s newspaper.  To view a multimedia presentation of Frank’s
career go to: http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/multimedia/frank/retires.html

Ron Garrison
Visuals Editor