[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO DEAN STONE

 Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, next Tuesday, September 23, is 
an important day in my hometown of Maryville, TN. It is the 90th 
birthday of Dean Stone.
  It would be hard to imagine Blount County without Dean Stone. For 
most of his 90 years, he has been our historian-in-chief, our 
storyteller-in-chief, and our editor-in-chief. His photographs of the 
Great Smoky Mountains and his eight books about our county's history 
line the libraries of most of Blount Countians. In fact, taken 
altogether they constitute a library of their own.
  Dean is a longtime journalist and native of Maryville, TN, where he 
served as editor of the Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times and still serves as 
opinion editor today. In each Sunday's edition, he writes his ``Bits of 
Stone'' about the history and happenings around Blount County. Dean 
earned his degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1949 
after serving in World War II, where he originated the idea of raising 
the American flag over Yugoslavia. After college, he decided to return 
to Maryville and began his career with the Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times 
as a Sunday editor.
  Dean became managing editor of the newspaper--known now as the Daily 
Times--later that year and has been employed with the newspaper for the 
last 66 years. His journalistic skills and energy have helped to make 
the Daily Times one of the best smaller daily newspapers in our 
country. Under his direction, the Daily Times has received more than 30 
first-place awards from Tennessee journalism associations. In 2013, 
Dean was inducted into the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame.
  Dean is known for his contributions to tourism in Maryville and 
Blount County, including founding the Times Townsend Traveler in the 
early 1950s, a tourism journal that was one of the first publications 
of its type in the Nation. He has received numerous awards in 
recognition of his service to tourism in the area, including 
recognition as the ``one person in Blount County and Townsend who has 
contributed the most to tourism during the 20th century'' at the 
Tennessee Governor's Conference on Tourism. He also served as president 
of the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, on numerous education and 
school boards, Leadership Blount, the Maryville-Alcoa Jaycees, the 
Alcoa Kiwanis, and the United Way of Blount County.
  Dean is a longtime supporter of our national parks and for many years 
has served on and chaired the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
Commission. He was instrumental in founding Beautiful Blount, which 
still seeks to preserve the beauty in the foothills of the Smoky 
Mountains. He also started Stonecraft in 1954, a postcard company he 
founded to share the beauty of the Smokies.
  Gregg Jones, current president of Blount County Publishers, said:

       For the past several decades it has been Dean Stone's joy 
     to reveal in word and picture every dimension of his beloved 
     Blount County. As he has done so over the years, it has 
     become apparent that Dean, himself, is one of Blount County's 
     greatest treasures. I am honored to claim Dean as my 
     colleague and friend, and wish him the very best on this 
     special day and every day to come.

  Another colleague of Dean's, Carl Esposito, current publisher of the 
Daily Times, said, ``Dean Stone is not only the elder statesman of the 
Daily Times, but a virtual repository of Blount County history and 
knowledge. It is a pleasure and privilege to work alongside him.''
  Many Blount Countians have their own stories about Dean's impact on 
their lives, and I have mine. Other than lawn mowing and paper routes, 
Dean gave me my first real job. When I was a student at Maryville High 
School during the 1950s, Dean began a feature in the Daily Times 
reporting the news in Blount County high schools. He named me the 
school page editor for Maryville High. As I remember, the pay was one 
penny for each inch of copy that I wrote. I remember turning in so many 
inches of copy that after the first edition, Dean limited the number of 
words each school editor could write.
  Ever since, Dean Stone and his family have been close friends of the 
Alexander family. There is no one from whom I have learned more about 
my home county than Dean Stone.
  So Dean, from one of your many students, admirers, former employees 
and fellow Blount Countians, Happy 90th Birthday, and thank you for all 
you have done to celebrate the beautiful place we call home.

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