Musings from a long-time newspaper columnist [The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.]
By Darrell Laurant, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Not that I enjoyed witnessing blood and suffering, or badgering sick people for their insurance information. No, I liked that job simply because every day was different and unexpected. And for the past 36 years, that's what has nurtured and sustained me as a newspaper columnist.
Had I not been given the freedom to explore and inquire, I would never have ridden on a Tall Ship, flown with a stunt pilot, gone night coon hunting in the
Looking back, it's funny the memories that push to the forefront.
1. It's well into the lengthy double murder trial of Jens Soering in the
"Shut up!" he shouts.
There is a moment of silence, and then Updike bellows: "Objection!"
"He's my client," Neaton fires back, "and I can tell him to shut up if I want to."
Another moment of silence, and then Updike says: "I can't argue with that."
2. I'm riding in the backseat of a car taking famed writer
3. I'm riding in a small, private plane taking
We chat pleasantly for awhile, and then Theismann closes his eyes at one of my questions, as if in reflection. I wait for what should be a thoughtful answer. And wait. Finally, I realize that Theismann is asleep.
4. I'm covering a Congressional election in which Rep.
When I find Cole at his campaign headquarters, he looks as if he's close to tears.
"The people have spoken," he says quietly, "and they hate me."
5. A man calls me, distraught, with a sad tale of how he had emerged from several months in a coma following an automobile wreck, only to find his bank intended to foreclose on his house because he was four payments behind on a second mortgage. His pleas to several bank officials had gone unheeded.
I find someone in authority at the bank to call, and I tell him that the house has been in the caller's family since the late 1700s, and that he seems serious about considering suicide.
"Why are you doing a story on this?" the man at the bank asks.
"Because I think people should know about some of the difficult decisions you have to make to stay in business and protect their deposits," I say. "It's sad, but you probably have to be a little ruthless sometimes. I mean, here's a guy who's been in a coma."
"
Fifteen minutes, he does.
"Tell your caller that he's paid in full," he said. "Do you still have to put something in the paper?"
It was, by far, the best story I never wrote.
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