Journalist retires after 47 years of telling Pee Dee stories
HARTSVILLE, S.C, (AP) — Ardie Arvidson has retired after 47 years in journalism.
Arvidson, possibly one of the longest serving female journalists in South Carolina, went to Columbia College and received an English degree with the hopes of becoming an English teacher.
After a failed student-teaching experience, Arvidson realized teaching didn’t suit her. Arvidson began a pursuit for her next career.
She saw an ad in the Florence Morning News for a lifestyle reporter at the Hartsville Messenger. She said it seemed to be fate and she immediately applied.
The rest is history.
“That’s how I got started and my first day was Oct. 20, 1975,” Arvidson said. “I thought I would be there six months and 47 years later. I’m still doing the same job and I have loved every minute of it.”
Becoming a reporter never crossed her mind. Arvidson said she was an introvert and shy and had to overcome shyness to become a successful reporter. With time and growing confidence, being a reporter became easier.
Fake it until you make it, is a saying that most people say, and this is what Arvidson did.
She said she would often pretend to be someone else as she was interviewing people and asking them questions. Practice makes perfect because Arvidson became so good at interviewing that she would come into interviews with one question and allow the rest of her questions to come from things she noted in conversation or in the way the interviewee is dressed.
Her inquisitive mind always allowed her to be more than prepared for whatever comes her way.
One of the better parts of the job is telling people’s stories and highlighting their personal highs and lows, she said.
Arvidson said she has enjoyed storytelling the most. People’s stories have helped her...