July 31, 2000
Al Shackleford killed in auto accident
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) --A veteran denominational journalist once hailed as a hero for press freedom in the Southern Baptist Convention died July 23 from injuries sustained in a car accident.
___Al Shackleford, 68, was the lone fatality in an afternoon head-on collision involvingthree cars on a two-lane state highway not far from his home in Franklin, Tenn. His wife, Tommye, and daughter, Dee Cochran, were hospitalized. Two grandchildren also in the car, Ben Cochran, 4, and his 2-year-old sister, Rachel, were not seriously injured.
AL SHACKLEFORD
___Another car veered into the lane where Shackleford was driving, causing the head-on collision.
___Shackleford's career as a Baptist journalist spanned more than 40 years, but he was best known for being fired 10 years ago as director of Baptist Press, the SBC's official news service.
___After his firing at Baptist Press, Shackleford went nearly two years unable to find steady work, including 10 months where he earned $4.60 an hour as a clerk at a Kroger store.
___Eventually, he was hired by the SBC's publishing arm, LifeWay Christian Resources, as editor-in-chief of Mature Living, a monthly magazine for senior adults.
___He reportedly planned to retire later this year.
___LifeWay President Jimmy Draper, who offered him the job eight years ago, said Shackleford "did a superb job as editor of Mature Living."
___Shackleford also served 11 years as editor of the Tennessee Baptist newspaper Baptist & Reflector and 11 years before that as editor of the Indiana Baptist.
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