Gazette welcomes new reporter

The Pittsburg Gazette would like to welcome Ellis Knox to the reporting staff. Mr. Knox has lived on Lake Bob Sandlin since he retired as a direct contractor to the Central Intelligence Agency in December of 2006.

Mr. Knox was born in Corrigan, Texas and graduated from the Livingston Independent School District in Livingston, Texas. He attend Texas A&M University for two years and later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management from National Louis University in Mclean, Virginia.

He is a professional photographer by trade and owned a studio in Livingston before moving to Northern Virginia in 1989 where he worked for the CIA.

Pittsburg Gazette editor Tori Lyle said she’s happy to have Mr. Knox on board.

“Ellis is a skilled photographer with an eye for detail and a capable writer,” she said. “I can’t wait for the people of Pittsburg to see what he can do.”

Harry Darby, Gazette publisher, said Mr. Knox will be a benefit not only to the newspaper, but to the community it serves.

“I believe Pittsburg residents love seeing their hometown in a good light and that’s what Mr. Knox brings to the table,” he said. “We have a full staff of dedicated individuals again. Mr. Knox is an asset to our team and he knows what it takes to get the job done.”

Mr. Knox was the classroom manager for the Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis in the CIA University, the agency’s in-house graduate university.

“I was actually a jack-of-all-trades at the Agency,” Mr. Knox said. “Besides managing the school’s seven classrooms and the equipment in them, I also videotaped classified briefings and did all of the school’s photography. In addition, I performed research on the classified and unclassified computer networks for the instructors.”

Mr. Knox was employed at the CIA almost 18 years.

“It was a great job,” he said. “However, after 9/11 it became a bit frantic. We went from four classes a year with 16 students to 25 classes a year with 25 students.”

Since he and his wife, Penny, have moved back to Texas to settle on his wife’s ancestral land, they have both worked part-time at the Gilmer Walmart and have since retired.

The couple has two grown children, Dwayne Knox of Dallas, and Elaine Knox of Pittsburg. Granddaughters Ashley De Leon and Celina Standley are recent graduates of the Pittsburg Independent School District. Granddaughter Breanna Standley and grandson Donnie Blunt attend 10^th grade and first grade, respectively.