Final acts

As an old showman, John Gray would have been delighted.

His obituary made the news on all three Chattanooga stations Wednesday night, and there were sweet remembrances in the press.

On Sunday, Channel 12 sent a camera crew to the visitation and got some great soundbites from friends, family and caregivers. His old neighbor, Mary Duncan, even made the trip up from Chattanooga and looked great on the evening news.

At the cemetery, we got a final duty and honor: carrying him to his place next to Amanda. The weather up on Fort Hill was spectacular -- bright, mild and breezy, in the 60s, the kind of "John Gray Day" he loved to forecast.

Afterward, when we gathered in the museum's Cultural Center, which he'd given in Amanda's memory, there was a Channel 3 crew getting more interviews.

There were meatballs and sandwiches to nibble on (of course -- sometimes I think it was no accident that he really, really loved ham), a little chocolate and a few things to sip while looking over nine decades of a life in pictures spread out on a table.

Admittedly, it was a slow news day, but John Gray led both evening newscasts one last time.