Lisa Hood Skinner helps Walter Pulliam open a present — The Autobiography of Mark Twain.

Clipping from a 1946 News-Sentinel article by Walter Pulliam accompanied by an editorial cartoon.

The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists held a luncheon at the Orangery today to celebrate Walter Pulliam’s 100th birthday.

The longtime journalist — Washington Post, Stars & Stripes and several East Tennessee newspapers — regaled the gathering of about 20 with stories from his much-storied career.

Pulliam passed around clippings of articles he wrote for the News-Sentinel (back when it had a hyphen in its name) and remembered fondly the fierce competition and the willingness of newspapers to “take a stand” in those days.

His cake was decorated as a front page proclaiming his birthday as the news of the day.

Pulliam actually turned 100 on Tuesday, when the News Sentinel (now without a hyphen) published a front page story about him by Matt Lakin.