TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A longtime member of Florida’s Capitol press corps, who is a household name in Tallahassee, passed away this week.
Bill Cotterell died Monday at the age of 82.
Cotterell is in the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame.
He reported at the Florida Capitol for more than 40 years – 27 of them with the Tallahassee Democrat.
Veteran Tallahassee Democrat political reporter Bill Cotterell speaks at the Governor’s Mansion at a party held in his name on March 19, 2012. After over 40 years of reporting, Cotterell announced his retirement, but he didn’t stay on the sidelines for long. He began writing weekly columns that continued until his death.(Democrat File photo)
“Bill was a reporter’s reporter. He was the ultimate straight arrow. Hard news reporter. A credit to the craft. That’s what I’ll remember,” the paper’s former Capitol Bureau Chief Dave Bruns said.
Bruns hired Cotterell and spent years working elbow to elbow with him on the second floor of the Florida Press Center.
“He covered presidential campaigns down to garbage pick up and everything in between and he always played it absolutely straight,” Bruns said. “If Bill Cotterell had reported that the Martians had landed in the plaza between the Capitol, any governor in the last 40 years would have straightened his tie and rushed outside to say hello.”
Bill Cotterell photographs Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking with state senator John Thrasher in Tallahassee in 2011.(State Archives of Florida)
Cotterell is perhaps best known for his reporting on state workers and his long-running Capital Curmudgeon column.
“He had a near photographic memory for every moment of his 60 year career holding power to account with his wit, wisdom and a deeply rooted passion for Florida and the facts,” said the Tallahassee Democrat’s Executive Editor William Hatfield. “Tallahassee, Florida and the Republic are a better place because of his public service.”
Funeral arrangements for Bill Cotterell have not yet been finalized.
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