George Honeycutt, Retired Houston Chronicle Photo Director

 

HOUSTON, TX (January 16, 2008) - Former Houston Chronicle director of photography George Honeycutt, 72, died Tuesday in a Lufkin, TX, hospital, Houston photojournalist Dave Einsel reported.

"George was a great mentor, friend, and a pretty good fisherman," Einsel said. "During his 34-year tenure, he guided the Chronicle photo department through the changes to color photography, starting in the 1960’s with the Sunday magazine and later in the daily paper, remote transmitting, and on through the early stages of digital photography."

Honeycutt began his career at The Charlotte News & Observer in North Carolina, where in 1962 he was the Newspaper Photographer of the Year in the 19th annual NPPA-University of Missouri Pictures of the Year competition. "He moved his family to Houston that same year to be the photography director at the Chronicle until he retired in 1996," Einsel said. Honeycutt first joined NPPA in 1960.

"George won a lot of awards during his career, as did the photographers he led. In addition to his NPPA awards, he won multiple times in the Pro Football Hall of Fame contest as well as many other national competitions. Members of the photography staff won three NPPA POY awards, several Hall Of Fame contests, and a pile of national and regional awards.
 
"However, the prizes are only a small part of his legacy. George did so many things and there are just as many great stories. He once saved a photographer from death. He and Curtis McGee were wading through high water while covering a flood and McGee stepped in a submerged manhole and disappeared. George reached down for him and managed to grab hold of a camera strap and pull Curtis up from a certain drowning.
 
Einsel said, "George was inspiring. He was supportive. He trusted photographers to get the job done. If I could accomplish half of what he did on this planet both with a camera and without, I will have lived a full life."

An ardent fisherman, Honeycutt moved to Riverside near Lake Livingston after retiring. He later moved to nearby Trinity, where he lived until his death.

Survivors include his wife, Sandra Spencer Honeycutt, of Trinity; and three sons, George Keith Honeycutt, of Houston, Kevin Spencer Honeycutt, of New York City, and Stephen Kurt Honeycutt, of Bellville.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday January 18 at Riverside United Methodist Church in Riverside, TX.

 

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