Former outdoors editor for Pittsburgh Press, Post-Gazette
Wyndle L. Watson was a storyteller.
Whether describing the thrill of landing a 6½-foot tarpon off the Florida Keys or shooting a 450-pound black bear in Quebec, the stories were real and the adventures were his own. As outdoors editor for The Pittsburgh Press and the Post-Gazette, he led a generation of readers beyond their armchairs to outdoor adventures in exotic corners of the world.
Mr. Watson died Saturday. He was 86.
A child of the Dust Bowl, he was born in Onward, Okla., in 1931.
The Pittsburgh Press outdoors page came with big shoes to fill. His predecessor, Roger Latham, was a former Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist, nationally known outdoors writer and entrepreneur with a line of turkey-hunting products who died in a fall from a Swiss mountain ledge during a photo shoot in 1979.
Mr. Watson picked up the beat in his own style, mixing tales of his global hunting and fishing exploits with a conservation ethic. As outdoors editor for the Press for 23 years, his stories were carried by the Scripps Howard News Service. He freelanced for Pennsylvania Game News. When the Post-Gazette absorbed the Press in 1993, he was among the first Press writers to be hired by the newspaper’s former competitor. There, he worked the outdoors beat for another five years.
“Wyndle was a really nice guy,” said Post-Gazette reporter Maria Sciullo. “I was on the sports copy desk years ago, and Wyndle turned in a column that had a recipe for some sort of jerky. One of the ingredients was something like ‘10 pounds of water.’ I asked him what that meant and he said, ‘You know, 10 pounds of water. You just weigh it.’ That was a new one for me.”
Post-Gazette writer Mike White also worked with Mr. Watson in the sports department.
“Good guy. … He used to tell me he made his own dough balls for fishing. Used Jell-O powder in it. Seriously,” he said. “I told him I tried it once … and didn’t even get a hit.”
Post-Gazette sports writer Gerry Dulac remembers Mr. Watson as a guy who really enjoyed his job.
“They don’t come any nicer than Wyndle,” he said. “Total outdoorsman, right down to his belts. Loved what he did as much as any journalist I know. Even the deer liked him.”
Mr. Watson retired in 1997. A member of the Butler City Hunting and Fishing Club and the Connoquenessing Valley Bowman archery club, he was also a skilled horseman who participated in and judged equine events at regional shows and fairs. After retirement, he lived for a while in Fort Pierce, Fla., before returning to Mars in Butler County.
Mr. Watson is survived by his wife of 63 years, Rose Marie Jewart Watson; a daughter, Wyndie Willis of Fort Pierce, Fla.; a son, Brett Watson of Mars; a sister, Patricia Brown of Jamestown, Pa.; brothers Jack Watson of Grove City and Gilbert Watson of Sarver; and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Homer.
Visitation is from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at McDonald-Aeberli Funeral Home, 238 Crowe Ave., Mars. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Old Union Presbyterian Church, 200 Union Church Road, Mars.
Memorials may be made to Old Union Presbyterian Church or the Butler Visiting Nurses Association Inpatient Hospice, 115 Technology Drive, Butler, PA 16001.
John Hayes: 412-263-1991, jhayes@post-gazette.com.