Dear Friends,

Sam Attlesey was a Texan's Texan. And a reporter's reporter.

Sam was a somewhat shy, self-effacing fellow who enjoyed life and people. He was in love with this place called Texas, and he considered it a privilege to live and work in the Lone Star State.

As a journalist, Sam considered the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics the best beat a reporter could have. He was a consummate professional who immersed himself in his work. He was tireless in his pursuit of the truth. If Sam wrote it, you could take it to the bank. And there is no higher praise for a reporter than that.

His devotion to his profession and his beloved Texas made Sam Attlesey stand out among his peers. The shy fellow from Sulphur Springs won the respect of not only his colleagues, but the people he covered. In the most cynical era of politics in our state's history, the most trusted political reporter out there was a good old boy from Hopkins County who did his job the old-fashioned way -- by wearing out boot leather and Bic pens and reporter's notebooks. And by simply telling it like it was.

In his prime, Sam was diagnosed with cancer. He fought the disease the same way he practiced his journalism -- with grit and grace and a self-effacing smile. He held it at bay much longer than anyone thought he could. And all along the way, he continued writing his column whenever he could muster the strength. His last column ran Jan. 26, just weeks before his death at age 56.

People from all over Texas came to Sulphur Springs to honor Sam's memory. It was a day when political differences and cynicism were put aside, a day when those who made the news mourned alongside those who covered it.
An idea emerged that day among Sam's friends and fellow journalists, and among the politicians and the operatives he once wrote about. The idea was to found a scholarship at the University of Texas in Sam's name. The scholarship would preserve not only the memory of a fine and decent man, but also his principles and his professionalism.
That's how the Sam Attlesey Endowed Scholarship came to be. We hope you will join our drive to raise the money needed for this endowment.

We also think Sam would smile on the effort to nurture the next generation of journalists who consider serious political reporting an important calling.

Thank you for your consideration.