Halberstam dead

[jgmacg]

Should I be uneasy because when I told my EIC he was dead, he looked up and said, "Who is that?"?

 

[Double Down]

An editor at my paper had a similar reaction. "His name sounds familiar," he said.

As did, I gander, the sound of me thumping my head against my desktop in frustration.

 

[jakewriter82]

This is a D_B

Where's the other thread on this?
Is it locked?
I searched for it once yesterday afternoon and was surprised nothing showed up so I was about to start a new thread.
Then, I went back and searched again because I was sure someone on here had heard about it. I did and saw the original thread called "Halberstam RIP" come up. Now today I did a search and nothing but this thread comes up.
I only bring this up because people love to tell you you've posted a D_B...but it's hard not to when the first thread is hidden.

But whatever. Halberstam was an awesome writer. His book on Michael Jordan was great. It was one of the best next to the Jordan Rules by Sam Smith....IMO.

 

[imjustagirl2]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/40551/

And RIPs usually go on the 'news' thread since they're usually news. It's why this one was suggested high up to become a thread discussing his work, i.e. a journalism topic.

 

[MileHigh]

You might have been in the Journalism topics only portion when you did a search, and it searched in that area only, not the entire board.

 

[budcrew08]

An editor at my paper had a similar reaction. "His name sounds familiar," he said.

As did, I gander, the sound of me thumping my head against my desktop in frustration.

Hey, that's the reaction both me and one of our other editors had... He remembered him for his coverage of Vietnam and news events, I remembered him mostly for Summer of '49 and much of his other sports material... But first thing we both said was "Hey, that name sounds familiar."

BTW: It got put in our LIFE section. [sheepishly puts head down and walks away]

 

[imjustagirl2]

We gave it an A1 promo, then it was the only story on A16 (back page of A section) with a headshot.

 

[diesel27]

Very, very sad day. Halberstam was one of the great ones. I can't believe there's people that work in this industry and have never heard of him.

"The Teammates" was one of the best books I have ever read.

 

[ZummoSports]

Should I be uneasy because when I told my EIC he was dead, he looked up and said, "Who is that?"?

You want to talk uneasy, my ME barely knows what's going on in his own newsroom?

 

[ColbertNation]

When I told my EIC, he said the news section was too full. It ended up getting about 20 inches of play, buried on the inside with a mugshot.

 

[Dan Rydell]

Halberstam was the best, and a great teacher, and a great listener also.

That obit shoulda been on Page 1 in all the big papers in this country.

Sadly, in mine, it was buried deep inside.

These people in my newsroom are relatively young, and it sucks when they have no idea of what this man meant to journalism and sports and everything else he did.

None of them ever heard about the books he wrote, either.

 

[In Exile]

Anyone in this business who doesn't know who David Halberstam is and has not read any of his work has no business being in this business. It is beyond embarrassing.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Ryan, today.

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/articles/2007/04/25/halberstam_caught_real_life_of_sports/?page=1

Like the ending.

 

[RustyHampton]

Rick Cleveland's column...

http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/COL0504/704250358

 

[SF_Express]

My local paper did an A1 tease and a B7 obit, but they're so consumer and "news you can use" oriented these days that I wasn't surprised.

 

[playthrough]

This week's SI ran a headshot and an extended paragraph in the "For the Record" section. Maybe the timing of Halberstam's death didn't allow more with their deadlines, but giving him 1/5th of a page didn't look quite right.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Jack Shafer offers up ... well, I'm not sure what it is. Maybe he comes not to praise Halberstam (who I admired, please note), but to bury him:

http://www.slate.com/id/2164960?nav=tap3

 

[Ben_Hecht]

The Apple story's great.

 

[Birdscribe]

That last story about the NY Times considering Halberstam so young that it didn't have a decent obit in the can for Tuesday's paper would explain the half-ass obit it used.

 

[Dan Rydell]

This week's SI ran a headshot and an extended paragraph in the "For the Record" section. Maybe the timing of Halberstam's death didn't allow more with their deadlines, but giving him 1/5th of a page didn't look quite right.

SI was caught right up on deadline, I"m sure. That they pushed something aside and got it in is admirable, I think.

I know they would have done a half-page or even a full page if they had the time for it. Halberstam was that big a guy, news and sports also, and if it wasn't given enough play in SI, you can bet the deadline, and only that, prevented something much better.

It's too bad, though. SI usually does a good job with obits if the timing is right.

And it would be great to hear Y.A. Tittle's reaction to all this. He was about to be interviewed for a great book, and then Mr. Halberstam dies on the way to his house.

I bet that woulda been a great book. And I can't believe Mr. Halberstam would die in an accident like that. He was a great one. Youngsters, take note of that. Read his stuff, sports or otherwise. He was that great.