Dick Tracy, 'Garden Detective,' dies at 84

Our Sacramento gardening world recently lost a legend with the passing of Dick Tracy, the original “Garden Detective.” After a series of illnesses, he died Feb. 28 at his Grass Valley home. He was 84.

As garden writer for The Sacramento Bee, Tracy answered thousands of reader questions about what was bugging their plants and other backyard mysteries. With a ready wit and insatiable curiosity, he also tackled food dilemmas as The Bee’s “Food Sleuth.”

For The Bee’s Cal Life section, he wrote hundreds of profiles of inspirational local gardeners, capturing their excitement and unique relationships with plants.

Garden writing wasn’t his first passion; he was hired by The Bee as its farm reporter in 1969 for the long-gone “Country Life” section.

“I was shoved into the role of garden writing,” Tracy recalled while writing about his career. “The other guys said, ‘We hate gardening, so you’re the garden writer.’ ”

It was the best thing that could have happened, he added.

“Some people are born under a lucky star. I was one. Knowing absolutely nothing about horticulture, I began interviewing garden hobbyists and hoped for the best. They helped me immeasurably and appreciated what I wrote.

“And so did The Bee’s readers. At one point in my career, I was honored by a Channel 10 viewers’ poll naming their favorite newspaper columnist. The immortal Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle won hands down. I came in second!”

Tracy captured the whimsy of John and Ann Morris at their Troll Knoll garden home in Penn Valley or the passion of pioneering sustainability expert Carolyn Singer. “In my opinion, gardeners are the world’s finest people,” he wrote.

While winning several national awards for his garden writing, Tracy became a UC Cooperative Education master gardener and served as Western Regional Director for the Garden Writers’ Association (now Garden Communicators International). In 1999, he was honored by the Sacramento County master gardeners as an Honorary Lifetime Master Gardener.

With Napa Valley entrepreneur Molly Chappellet, he wrote “Gardens of the Wine Country,” published by Chronicle Books. Featuring 40 gardens, the 1998 book was honored with GWA’s Quill and Trowel Award. He also judged the GWA’s publications contest for many years.

“Dick was an incredible garden writer, but to tell the truth, not much of a gardener,” said Felicia Tracy, his wife of 33 years. “But we always had a big vegetable garden.”

With an encyclopedic knowledge of plants, Dick found plenty of room to “attempt” gardening at Felicia’s 100-acre family horse ranch in Grass Valley. He had raised three sons with his first wife, Judy. Felicia also had two grown children.

Longtime friends, Dick and Felicia first dated in 1962. They got reacquainted following the death of Felicia’s first husband and married in 1989. Their blended family now includes seven grandchildren.

Said Dick, “I married a 4-H project and opened up doors I hardly knew existed. … Moving from my downtown bachelor apartment to her family horse ranch in the foothills was more proof, to my way of thinking, that a guardian angel was keeping watch over me. She loved to cook, and I loved to eat. Our lives blended perfectly.”

“He adapted to ranch life incredible well,” Felicia said. “He did everything from delivering a calf to cleaning stalls.”

Dick also discovered trap shooting and became accomplished at that, too. Another passion was his 1963 Humber Super Snipe, which he drove on pleasure drives with Felicia through the Sierra foothills.

Dick Schmidt, a retired Bee photographer, worked with Tracy for many years. “Decades ago, Reader’s Digest had a regular feature in each monthly issue: ‘The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met.’ For me, that’s Dick Tracy. He was the real deal,” Schmidt said.

“I so enjoyed the many years going together on Bee assignments with Dick ... to an interesting Cal Life story, frequently on the road, stopping for lunch at some far-out, off-the-path restaurant or diner,” Schmidt recalled. “Always excellent conversations, topics and back-and-forth banter.

“He retired from his 30-career at The Bee and began – at age 62! – a second full time labor-of-love on a working equestrian ranch, filled with physical activity,” Schmidt noted. “(He) often referred to himself, with pride, as Ricardo the ranch hand.”

After a severe illness almost killed him four years ago, Tracy wrote a “self-obit,” said Schmidt. “It was smoothly crafted, filled with facts and punctuated with humor.”

The lede: “Dang! I knew this would happen, eventually; I’m dead!”