| − | A native of El Dorado in Union County in southern [[Arkansas]], Durrett was the only child of George Walton Durrett (1926-1977), originally from Panola County, [[Mississippi]], and the former Henrietta Burge (born c. 1929). His parents married in Union County in 1950. His father, who died at the age of fifty, is interred at Arlington Memorial Park in El Dorado.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88274620 | + | A native of El Dorado in Union County in southern [[Arkansas]], Durrett was the only child of George Walton Durrett (1926-1977), originally from Panola County, [[Mississippi]], and the former Henrietta Burge (born c. 1929). His parents married in Union County in 1950. His father, who died at the age of fifty, is interred at Arlington Memorial Park in El Dorado.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88274620|title=George Walton Durrett|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 3, 2017}}</ref> |
| − | He studied at [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] under Wiley W. Hilburn, Jr. He joined ''The Shreveport Times'' in September 1978 and focused on general coverage of neighboring Bossier City until 1983, when he relocated to [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], where he became the city editor of ''The News-Star''. From 1987 to 1991, he became the state editor and held other positions too with the since defunct ''Arkansas Gazette'', absorbed by the ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'', published since 1991 by Walter E. Hussman, Jr. Durrett returned to ''The Shreveport Times'' in 1991, at which he was a reporter, columnist, assistant managing editor in 1994, and his final position, editorial page editor in December 2002. He was particularly known for his wisdom, wit, compassion, and community leadership.<ref name=obit/> | + | He studied at [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] under Wiley W. Hilburn, Jr. (1938-2014). He joined ''The Shreveport Times'' in September 1978 and focused on general coverage of neighboring Bossier City until 1983, when he relocated to [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], where he became the city editor of ''The News-Star''. From 1987 to 1991, he became the state editor and held other positions too with the since defunct ''Arkansas Gazette'', absorbed by the ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'', published since 1991 by Walter E. Hussman, Jr. Durrett returned to ''The Shreveport Times'' in 1991, at which he was a reporter, columnist, assistant managing editor in 1994, and his final position, editorial page editor in December 2002. He was particularly known for his wisdom, wit, compassion, and community leadership.<ref name=obit/> |
| | ''The Shreveport Times'' publisher Alan English recalled that Durrett "wrote, edited and guided countless stories for decades ... and through the appropriate lens. ... Craig didn't know when work started and ended, because he lived journalism. He could be found putting the punctuation on a late editorial and up the next morning to meet someone for breakfast. Craig was a storyteller."<ref name=cdurrett/> | | ''The Shreveport Times'' publisher Alan English recalled that Durrett "wrote, edited and guided countless stories for decades ... and through the appropriate lens. ... Craig didn't know when work started and ended, because he lived journalism. He could be found putting the punctuation on a late editorial and up the next morning to meet someone for breakfast. Craig was a storyteller."<ref name=cdurrett/> |