Roy Wilder Jr., former newspaperman and colorful political operative who died the other day at 97, once told me his three keys to longevity: Read The N&O each morning; drink a double martini each afternoon; and, weather permitting, go outdoors two or three times a day to smoke a pipe.

It worked for him. I crossed paths with Wilder in the late 1990s when I was working on a book on Terry Sanford's 1960 campaign for governor. Wilder worked for Sanford. I visited him once at his log cabin in Spring Hope in Nash County and we stayed in touch over the years. In 2009, he told me, "There's one son of a gun I want to outlive," although he didn't say "gun." But he wouldn't tell me who it was. I thought it might be his old political nemesis from that '60 campaign, Big John Burney of Wilmington, a lawyer who worked for candidate I. Beverly Lake. But Wilder said it wasn't Burney, who died in 2010. Click here to read my 2010 column on Wilder and Burney.

Wilder, who was friends with the great New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell, loved the language. His book, "You All Spoken Here," is a highly entertaining collection of expressions used in the South.

Wilder called me about 10 days ago, still a loyal N&O reader at 97. He confirmed that he had outlived his nemesis but still wouldn't tell me who it was. I'll never know. But I know this: Roy Wilder was a lot of fun. --John Drescher

Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul is laying out principles for the school system and why he feels they're better than the Republicans when it comes to education.

In an op-ed piece today, Paul writes that "support for schools should not be a partisan issue." But he goes on to say that the Democratic Party "stands out in its support of public education" as he cites a timeline of local and state leaders such as Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt and Vernon Malone.

Paul writes that the Democratic Party will uphold two fundamental principles as the assignment issue unfolds in the Wake County school system.

John Burney of Wilmington, who died recently, was one of North Carolina's most colorful political figures of the 20th century. Burney served as a local prosecutor and in the state Senate. But it was in the 1960s governor's race that Burney seized the political limelight with an innovative new strategy: Televised campaign rallies.

Burney attended Wake Forest law school back when it was in the town of Wake Forest in Wake County. Like many Wake Forest law students, Burney was loyal to professor I. Beverly Lake. When Lake ran for governor as a strong segregationist in the 1960 Democratic primary, Burney supported his old professor. Lake had little political experience. Lake was stiff, Burney told me. Burney was not. He took Lake behind a factory in Wilmington and gave him a lesson in retail politics. Burney coached Lake to say: "I'm Beverly Lake. I'm running for governor. What do you need for this area? More promises?" Lake became a competent campaigner. 

Burney came up with the idea of buying air time and televising campaign rallies. The Lake campaign believed they were the first live political rallies televised in the United States. Burney's job was to warm up the crowd -- and did he ever. He did so by peeling the skin off Lake's main opponent, Fayetteville lawyer Terry Sanford.  Burney was a large, hulking orator, an old-fashioned fire-breather. Sanford had promised too much, Burney said. "They say politics makes strange bedfellows," Burney once said. "I do hope Terry Sanford doesn't make any promises in his sleep." The crowd howled. 

Sanford won and became governor, president of Duke University and U.S. senator. Lake served on the state Supreme Court. His son became chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Burney lives on in grainy videos from 1960, an innovator and as good a political entertainer as North Carolina has ever seen.

--John Drescher

I interviewed Burney for my book on that 1960 race, "Triumph of Good Will: How Terry Sanford Beat a Champion of Segregation and Reshaped the South." I don't know if I've ever had more fun talking with an old pol.