North Carolina lost one of its favorite sons today... WFDD's Steve Biddle remembers Andy Griffith...

Andy Griffith died this morning at his home in the Outer Banks, of an unspecified illness. Griffith is best known for playing Sheriff Andy Taylor, of the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina... modeled on his hometown of Mount Airy. Griffith graduated from Mount Airy High School, where he was a member of the drama club. He went on to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and intended to become a Moravian preacher before changing his major to music, and for a few years, was a teacher at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro. There, one of the students he mentored in drama was NPR's Karl Casell. Griffith starred in the movie, “No Time for Sergeants,” which also featured a young actor named Don Knotts, who played Andy Taylor's bumbling deputy Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. On the news of his death, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr released a statement saying that he was saddened to learn of Griffith's passing, and that – quote - “Andy was a true North Carolina icon who introduced many people across the country and across the world to our great state for the first time.” Governor Beverly Perdue said, “Throughout his career, he represented everything that was good about North Carolina.” And the North Carolina Division of Tourism released a statement saying, “Andy Griffith embodied the immense pride that so many North Carolinians feel about our home state, and we will miss him dearly.” Andy Griffith was 86. Steve Biddle... WFDD News, Winston-Salem.