The Man Who Took The Photo Looks Back

Those in the Rockbridge area who did not have the opportunity to meet Mel Greenberg face to face got to see him on the front page of the June 12, 1974, edition of The News-Gazette.

Don Bullock, then a senior at Natural Bridge High School, was a stringer for The News-Gazette in the summer of 1974.

“I’ll always remember how kind Mr. Paxton and Jim Dedrick were to me,” he said recently. “I’d drive to work at André Studio at 1 p.m. to develop for them. After work at André, I’d head over on Tuesdays to The News-Gazette to develop film and then over to the Buena Vista News to process for Lyle Fitzgerald.”

During the week, Bullock was sent to cover various events around Rockbridge County, mostly for the sports pages.

But while Greenberg was here rooting around for rubes, News-Gazette publisher Matt Paxton Jr. had a special assignment for Bullock. Paxton had heard that Greenberg was planning on skipping town under the cover of night so he dispatched Bullock to the Keydet-General late on a Sunday.

“I waited outside the Keydet-General all night in hopes of catching a shot of him leaving town, but he didn’t. When I spoke to Mr. Paxton the next morning he thought Greenberg had an appointment at an attorney’s office in Lexington so I went there.”

Greenberg did indeed have a meeting that Monday morning with Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Sisler. Bullock parked his 1966 Mustang convertible – which he still has -- in the McCrum’s lot and sat in the rear of the car with the back window down. He just happened to have his camera at the ready when Greenberg was leaving Sisler’s office.

When Greenberg started running towards him, Bullock sped off in his Mustang.

The shot of Greenberg looking slightly disheveled, smoking a cigarette and carrying a brief case not only illustrated the story about him in The News-Gazette, but also in the pages of Newsweek. Bullock credits Paxton with helping him getting his picture published in the magazine and making sure he got acknowledged for it.

After leaving the area, Bullock worked in professional color labs in Kansas City and St. Louis. In 1986 he established his own photo printing business in North Carolina. He retired in 2017 and in 2020 purchased a home in the vicinity of Thorn Hill where he lives with his wife, Barbara.

Bullock has lots of special memories growing up in Rockbridge County. “It’s nice to be back home,” he said.