“Come in Hooterville; come in Rangoon.”

Morning after morning came the cheerful sounds from several desks away, as John Barton made phone calls on his daily rounds of Washtenaw County police agencies.

Barton would playfully scold the police if they didn’t have any bad news to report, and would usually conclude each conversation with a chuckle and a familiar sign-off: “Talk to ya later.”

Barton, who worked at The Ann Arbor News from 1975-1999 - nearly a quarter-century - died at his home on May 26 at age 68 after a four-year battle with cancer.

With his death comes a rush of memories of a classic newspaperman, of a reporter who loved working the police beat, loved getting the story on the street and then writing it with precision.

I worked alongside John as a fellow metro staffer during his final months at The News, and before that in the sports department, when he covered University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan sports and wrote occasional columns. 

But he was best known as a police reporter, who rose early in the morning to perform one of the toughest and most important writing roles on a newspaper.

He was a man of great depth and context, having served in the army and for three years in the Vietnam War. He came to journalism later than most, enrolling in Eastern Michigan University’s journalism program after 10 years in the service.

My mother, Taffy, a professor of journalism at EMU from 1969-79, always regarded John as one her favorite and most interesting students. She loved his wit, his worldly experience and his obvious love of writing. I remember him visiting our house with a group of her students when I was a youngster, and thinking this older guy was cooler than the others.

Mike Logghe, a former Ann Arbor police officer and department spokesman, worked with Barton on a daily basis during Logghe’s early days on the force.

Logghe recalls Barton as a reporter of high integrity and humor, with a keen sense of history and journalism. Barton earned Logghe’s respect by always treating him fairly.

Logghe tells the story of a major death investigation in Ann Arbor. Based on their mutual trust, Logghe showed Barton various police reports - a no-no for cops during such a probe - on the condition that Barton verify the key information with other sources.

But the family soon talked to another, larger paper, giving it a scoop, and Barton’s editors became upset with him at not having gotten the story. But Barton took the heat and refused to burn his source, Logghe, who would have gotten in trouble with his bosses. 

“He knew what to write and what not to write,” Logghe says. “He was a great guy.”

To a young cop like Logghe, Barton epitomized the wise, notebook-carrying reporter from the great, ink-stained heydays of newspapers. “ He had so much to offer a young guy like me,” Logghe says.

My favorite moments with John - an accomplished trout fisherman - came when he’d describe fishing on the AuSable River, or in recalling his times with retired Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Voelker, who wrote “Anatomy of a Murder,” along with wonderful books on trout fishing using the pen name of Robert Traver.

John brought that poetic sensitivity to much of his writing, including a lovely piece on Traver himself.

Many of us longtime Ann Arbor News employees felt it fitting and delightful that John married Jane Myers, a former Ann Arbor News reporter and columnist who wrote an insightful, sensitive column for The News called “Musings” during the 1970s.

Jane went on to write and edit with distinction for the University of Michigan, where she served as managing director of the Medical School’s Office of Medical Development and Alumni Relations, as well as the founder and executive editor of the publication “Medicine at Michigan.”

The two shared a love for written expression, for travel, and for each other, as evidenced by the obituary that ran in AnnArbor.com on May 30.

Like the man, it was articulate, sensitive and full of verve, right down to the accompanying picture - a shot of Barton jawing away with a relaxed and smiling Bo Schembechler as the two were about to enter a press conference at Crisler Arena late in Bo’s U-M career.

It is classic Barton. Always with something lively to say, always making a source comfortable, and always mixing a dose of humanity and humor with the work of a notebook-carrying reporter.

Rest in peace John. Talk to ya later.

Geoff Larcom, who worked for 25 years at The Ann Arbor News as an editor, reporter and columnist, is executive director of media relations for Eastern Michigan University.