The Queen is dead. Long live the King. OK, that may be the most predictable line I’ve ever written, but a version of it has been working for the Brits for, what, about 1,100 years … Read more
Tributes this past week to basketball great Bill Russell were as many as they were deserved. I couldn’t follow them all, which is a pity. Sportswriting and obituaries often display some of the best writing in journalism. Wedding the … Read more
Every afternoon when I was a kid, the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press Gazette landed in the driveway of our house. Actually, squinting back, I think it got tucked between the storm door and screen door. Such were the small … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This tribute is shared with permission from our friends at The Poynter Institute. Frank Clines arrived at The New York Times in 1958, one year before the death of that most brilliant Times writer … Read more
On most mornings the little brown dog could be found at the foot of the bed, often on his back with his hind legs spread and his front paws bent at the joint. That’s rest. Good rest. And better … Read more
“A plus-sized Jewish redneck lady died in El Paso on Saturday.” That’s the first line of the unforgettable obit of Renay Mandel Corren, who died in December at age 84. Written by her 52-year-old son, Andy … Read more
In late August, Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, learned he was going to be the pool reporter following President Biden to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival of the … Read more
A brief anecdote in a Denver Post story about Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Sheeler describes how a new reporter was seated next to him in the newsroom of the Rocky Mountain News. When he introduced himself, … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this essay was first published Feb. 19, 2021, as a Storyboard newsletter. That was two days before the tragic news that COVID deaths in the U.S. had topped 500,000. In retrospect, this reflection seems both … Read more
I love that feeling when a passage promises you that a story is worth sticking with. I had this experience recently when reading Wesley Morris’ profile of the late Cicely Tyson, who died last month at … Read more
