Joe Manchin III, Governor

Frank Jezioro, Director

News Release : August 9, 2005

Hoy Murphy , Public Information Officer (304) 558-3380 hoymurphy@wvdnr.gov

Contact: Harry Price, Administration Section Executive Secretary (304) 558- 3315 comments@wonderfulwv.com

Arnout Hyde Jr., Wonderful West Virginia Magazine Editor and Photographer, Dies After Long Battle with Cancer

  Longtime Wonderful West Virginia magazine editor Arnout “Sonny” Hyde Jr. of Charleston died Monday, August 9, 2005, at the age of 67, after a long battle with prostate cancer. There will be a wake at Wilson Funeral Home in Charleston Monday evening and a funeral at Sacred Heart Church in Charleston Tuesday, times for each to be announced.

  For more than four decades Hyde delighted viewers with his brilliant and versatile photography, from stunning landscapes to poignant human interest photos. Beginning in 1968, Hyde served as staff photographer for the Division of Natural Resources' then-new monthly magazine, Wonderful West Virginia, under the magazine's first editor, Ed Johnson. Fourteen years later, in 1982, he assumed the editorship until his retirement in 1988. Hyde returned as editor in 1997 under a contract with his publishing company, Cannon Graphics, Inc., and had held that position until his death. Cannon Graphics, under the leadership of Hyde's wife Teresa and daughter Lucia Hyde Robinson, will continue to produce the magazine on a monthly basis for DNR.

  " West Virginia has lost a good man, and I have lost a true friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Hyde family during this difficult time," said Gov. Joe Manchin III.

  Excepting some moves as a child and time in the Army, he lived in West Virginia all his life and became famous for his five coffee-table pictorial books, several calendars, and a series of note cards that showcased the beauty of the state. While he dedicated much of his career to photographing his beloved Mountain State , he also completed photo assignments in China , Europe , Israel and elsewhere in the United States . His photography appeared in National Geographic , Life , Reader's Digest , and National Wildlife , as well as Wonderful West Virginia , and he had more than 500 magazine covers to his credit.

  His honors include the 2004 Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2000 Governor's Award for Visual Artist of the Year, an honorary doctorate from Alderson Broaddus College, and Distinguished West Virginian Awards from three different governors. 

  “His long battle with prostate cancer is finally over, and it is easy to imagine him in some beautiful place with camera in hand and a huge grin on his face,” said his daughter, Lucia Hyde Robinson. “For those of you who knew him well, or even just a little bit, I don't have to tell you what an extraordinarily kind and gentle man he was. Not to mention a legendary storyteller. He died at home with his immediate family around him, after three days with a slew of family at his bedside trading stories and memories from his rich life.”

  “It was a privilege and an honor to work with Sonny the past few years on Wonderful West Virginia, and I join the thousands of readers across the country who will miss the journeys across our beautiful state on which he guided us each month,” said DNR Executive Secretary Harry Price, the publisher of the magazine.

  Hyde's nephew Rob Taylor, a recreational triathlete residing in Scottsdale , Arizona , is racing in the Florida Ironman competition in November to honor his uncle and to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Anyone wishing to contribute can learn more about the Foundation and how to make a tax-deductible donation by visiting online www.sonnysfight.com .

**DNR**