Mike Nichols, author and Star-Telegram history columnist, dies at 73

Fort Worth Star-Telegram history columnist and author Mike Nichols, known for his deep knowledge of Fort Worth and its past, died Sunday, according to friends. Nichols died after months in the hospital undergoing treatment for multiple forms of cancer, the friends said.

Nichols started his career as a copy editor at the Star-Telegram, which is where he met John Forsyth, a close friend, coworker and later one of the founding editors of Fort Worth Weekly.

Nichols to him was a mentor, a friend and someone who could always make him laugh.

“He was one of a group of journalists who taught me the business and was maybe the best group of journalists I ever worked with, and I eventually worked at the New York Times,” Forsyth said.

Nichols published several books after leaving the Star-Telegram in the 1990s, including “Balaam Gimble’s Gumption” which won the 2004 Texas Institute of Letters Funniest Texas Book award. He wrote the book after his departure from the Star-Telegram, when he moved to East Texas and became “a hermit” to focus on the novel, his friend Barry Shlachter said.

Shlachter worked with Nichols to publish another book, “You Know You’re Texan If...” years later. When he had the idea for that one, Shlachter said Nichols was the first person he could think of to write the book. He was born and raised in Texas and knew all the stereotypes, and Shlachter knew he could trust him to make it funny.

Nichols declined at first, but two weeks after he was asked to write it he had a manuscript on Shlachter’s desk.

“Nobody has handed in a manuscript that quickly,” Shlachter recalled. “He told me he just couldn’t get it out of his mind.”

Forsyth said Nichols had the sharpest, fastest wit he’d ever seen. When working at the Star-Telegram as a copy editor, Nichols could come up with three stellar headlines before Forsyth came up with one, he said.

He recalled how Nichols was a homebody for the most part, content with staying in most of the time, but that didn’t stop him from writing a travel column for the paper. He traveled to Iceland, Belgium and Russia and took Forsyth with him to England and Scotland once. And when Nichols was set to accept the award for “Balaam Gimble’s Gumption,” he took Forsyth and a couple of other friends with him to Austin and paid for their hotel rooms.

“He was just a generous person,” Forsyth said. “He insisted on it.”

Nichols could recall just about any fact about the history of Fort Worth, hence his regular column, “Lost Fort Worth,” which he also published on his website. His latest Star-Telegram history column was in Sunday’s edition. It was about an Arlington rescue home for young women.

Nichols’ sense of humor and the way he viewed life was something both friends said they admired about him. He even wrote and somewhat-regularly updated his own obituary, carrying it around in his wallet. He just wanted it to be funny and convey the way he viewed his life and the world, Forsyth said.

He’s not sure where that obituary is now, but hopes it’ll turn up soon.