" Dance me to the end of love " – Leonard Cohen

Wayne Robert Slater died December 20, 2021 in a car crash on his way home after buying Christmas decorations to light up his home in Florence, Texas.  He was 74, and he lived every one of those years to the hilt, welcoming a devoted, often amused, and always enlivened coterie of friends and family along on his adventure. A colleague best described him as a "whirling dervish of a man."

Wayne was born in Lubbock, Texas, but grew up in West Virginia.  Recognized for his public speaking in high school, he was awarded a full scholarship to West Virginia University.  This set the stage for his adult years as a journalist, which often included guest appearances on nationally televised political news shows. He sparred with such Texas figures as Governors Ann Richards and George W. Bush in his role as political correspondent and Austin Bureau Chief of the Dallas Morning News (1987 to 2014) and co-wrote two books with former TV reporter James Moore ( Bush's Brain and The Architect ).

As much as he was known in political circles, it was Dianne, his wife of more than 50 years, and their son Todd, that made his life complete.  The couple met in 7 ^th grade, and later both attended West Virginia University. Courtly from the start, Wayne greeted Dianne with red roses or pulled out her chair to seat her and opened doors in her way. That never stopped, even after their half century of marriage.  More recently, sitting outside their home on a hilltop, they named the cardinals that came to visit them each morning or used their considerable artistic talents to draw or paint together. Wayne favored colored pencil drawings of such still life subjects as pears and watermelons, maybe oranges, and sometimes even cowboy boots, perhaps using his beloved full-quill Ostrich boots as models.

Todd, an accomplished artist, acquired some of that same talent from his parents.  As a ten-year-old, Todd's first trip to Washington included an educational visit to art museums with his father, predictably, explaining technique. Todd later began making his living as a graphic artist and unbeknownst to him, Wayne would often email examples of his son's artwork to friends, seeking their opinions and their praise. Todd and his wife Kristie's three children, Gracie, 14, Dylan, 10, and Theo, 7, often had art projects awaiting them on their visits to Wayne and Dianne's. They adored Obi, their grandfather's nickname.

Wayne began his journalism career at the Parkersburg Sentinel, in Parkersburg, West Virginia after earning a degree in journalism.  He had previously considered medicine or law as a career, but Dianne persuaded him to follow his passion of writing.

The Slaters moved several times for Wayne's work, including ten years with the Associated Press in West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, and Colorado. He joined the Austin bureau of the Dallas Morning News in 1985.  When Wayne was on the road covering news stories, which was often, he called his family every day. After he retired in December 2014, he served as adjunct professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He taught political campaigns, as portrayed in American film, TV, and novels. He also taught religion and politics.  In addition, Wayne served as a mentor to dozens of interns and college students who worked in the Austin Bureau during his three decades with the Dallas Morning News.  He helped train a new generation of journalists, working closely with each of them to instill the same skills that made him such a respected member of the profession.

The subjects of his sometimes biting and always incisive political reporting were not always thrilled with Wayne's expectations for truth and transparency. Those caught lying often came to regret it. That happened to a governor's press secretary who once gave Wayne an explanation that didn't ring true. Wayne, invoking Pinocchio, reached over and tweaked the man's nose, saying, "I think it's growing."

Wayne was as meticulous in his appearance as he was with his journalist's facts. A snappy dresser, starched shirts and cowboy boots were often his go to casual wear.  And while many reporters are known for a sartorial spectrum ranging from wrinkled to frumpy, Wayne made sure he was never caught in such garb: He kept a pressed change of clothes and a shaving kit in his office in case he needed to attend a political function at the last minute or was called into a TV studio in his role as local and national political commentator.

But he wasn't fussy. When it came down to helping a friend or remaining smudge-free, he opted for the former. One busy day in the News' Austin Bureau that Wayne headed, the wife of a colleague frantically called the office, searching for her husband; she had a flat tire across town. Wayne said her husband was on assignment, and so he went in his pressed suit and changed the grimy tire, making no mention of the extra time he would have to spend at the office to finish his own assignment.

Wayne could also pontificate, especially when it came to movies, and certainly when his family was viewing videos. Wayne frequently put the movie on pause, jumped out of his chair, and pointed to the freeze frame movie scene, analyzed, critiqued, studied, and offered improvements to the film's camera angles, or the director's errant instructions, or even the lighting while his family listened patiently.

Wayne's family and friends grieve his loss and miss him deeply.  They include:

His wife Dianne Gluff Slater; their son Todd C. Slater of Round Rock and his wife, Kristie; grandchildren Gracie, Dylan and Theo; sister Linda Tow and husband Rodney; sister-in-law Judi d'Loughy; sister-in-law Sharon Winters and husband Jerry; nieces Heather Mabe (Larry), Missy Farrell (Mike) and Lauren Wu (Royce); nephews Christopher Wu, Mark, Michael and Matt White and several great nieces and nephews, along with countless friends, neighbors, colleagues and beneficiaries of Wayne's kindness and wit.

If you would like to donate to a charity in Wayne's name, consider Canine Companions or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Todd asks that you make sure to tell the people you love that you love them every day, as Wayne did.

Due to Covid, a memorial celebrating the life of Wayne Slater will take place at a later date.  Please check back at www.RamseyFuneral.com for updates.

Some people only get the chance for a walk in the park; some get to see the sunrise; others only the sunset.  Wayne and Dianne were fortunate enough to see and do it all.