Longtime KNOE investigative reporter Ken Booth has passed away.

Booth died after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Ken Booth was born in 1943 and spent his later years in Yuma, Arizona, far from his childhood home in Rayville, Louisiana. For about 25 years he was a fixture on KNOE, doing award-winning investigative journalism.

Working in TV is something Booth never intended to do. He was a radio newsman. But in the late '70s, Governor James Noe and owner of KNOE pursued him.

He refused at first, but he eventually agreed to visit KNOE. By the time they agreed on a date, Governor Noe was in the hospital. The two talked on the phone after Booth toured the station and met with then-general manager Paul Goldman.

Booth brought incredible credibility to KNOE. He traveled the globe covering presidents. Even Ronald Reagan personally corresponded with him. He had a relentless desire to uncover wrongdoing and never gave up on a story.

His advice for any journalist wanting to follow in his footsteps: Be ready to dig.

"You're going to spend a lot of dull time going through books and papers and chasing this out of the basement of the courthouse and all that kind of business," he said. "That's the way you do it. And when you get through it, then you know you got something. Then you can say, 'Gotcha.'"