Bill Vaughn, former Knoxville reporter, lobbyist and politico, dies at 77 – Knoxville News Sentinel
Bill Vaughn, former Knoxville reporter, lobbyist and politico, dies at 77 Knoxville News Sentinel
Bill Vaughan, a former Knoxville reporter who became a Nashville lobbyist and worked for several prominent politicians, died early Sunday at his home in …
Bill Vaughan, a former Knoxville reporter who became a Nashville lobbyist and worked for several prominent politicians, died early Sunday at his home in Maryville. He was 77.
Vaughan, a Jellico native, started his career in 1961 as a copy boy at The Knoxville Journal. He balanced his shifts at the now-defunct daily newspaper with his studies at the University of Tennessee, where he met his wife.
“I came to UT to go to school, and my roommate was a childhood friend of his,” Judy Vaughan said. “I went home with her for the weekend and met him over there. We married two and a half years later, and that’s when our adventure began.”
Vaughan went onto work as a political reporter for the Journal. He became fascinated with politics while covering the state legislature in Nashville, and he later landed a job as press secretary for U.S. Rep. Jimmy Quillen in Washington, D.C.
Vaughan seemed to be in high demand once he moved back to Nashville. He served as state tourism director, assistant press secretary for former Gov. Winfield Dunn and press secretary for Dortch Oldham’s gubernatorial campaign before working for 15 years as the director of a coal lobbying group called Facts about Coal in Tennessee.
“He just kind of kept his hand in the pot in a little bit of everything. People would call him just to talk to him about what he thought about different things,” his wife said. “He kind of knew everybody.”
Vaughan and his close friend, Ron McMahan, started a Nashville lobbying firm bearing their names. The two met while they were both reporters at The Knoxville Journal; McMahan went on to become the editor of the paper.
“Behind that gruff voice and personality was a guy who had a big heart and helped many people,” Vaughn said of his longtime friend when McMahan died in 2008. “What you saw in Ron was what you got. He was very competitive, strong-willed, and never hesitated to say what he thought to anyone.”
Outside of work, Vaughan enjoyed tending roses in his garden and playing golf at Holston Hills Country Club. He was a member there for 30 years, his wife said. He’d play every Sunday with former Knoxville City Councilman Larry Cox, Alan Carmichael of public relations firm Moxley Carmichael and former U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan, with whom he worked near the end of his career.
“I called them the four amigos,” Judy Vaughan said.
Bill Vaughan had suffered from dementia in recent years, his wife said. When he died Sunday, he was surrounded by his family, including his four daughters.
“He had a good life,” Judy said. “His mind’s clear now.”
The family plans to receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at Smith Mortuary in Maryville. A graveside service is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday morning at Grandview Cemetery, off Tuckaleechee Pike.
Published 11:33 PM EDT Sep 21, 2019
