NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Longtime Tennessean political reporter and columnist Larry Daughtrey has died at 76.
Senior Judge Martha Daughtrey of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says her husband died Thursday following complications from lung disease.
Former Vice President Al Gore, a onetime colleague of Daughtrey's at the Nashville paper, said his ability to explain the complex political issues of our time remains unmatched.
"His work commanded the highest respect from both sides of the aisle and his voice of reason will be missed," Gore's statement reads.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander called Daughtrey "the finest writer in our class at Vanderbilt University," a gift he brought to The Tennessean when he began his career there in 1962.
"He relished reporting, was fair about it, and good at it," said Alexander, who served two terms as governor. "He had sources all over the state Capitol."
Daughtrey continued writing a political column after his retirement in 1997, sending in his last piece - about the Nashville mayor's race - last September.