The Boy Who Wouldn't Die... Amazing piece in SI about Rae Carruth's son

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't think it's available online yet. I'm guessing it will be by tomorrow, but I just got this week's issue and it's a pretty crazy story.

The kid has CP and it sounds like Carruth is likely to be paroled in 2018.

Crazy sad story...

 

[Donny in his element]

Written by Thomas Lake.
(Great dude, by the way. Not sure if anyone's said that here).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/thomas_lake/09/07/rae-carruth/

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Thanks for finding that...

It reads like a Gary Smith story and I don't know if there is a bigger compliment I can give to a writer.

 

[Donny in his element]

I'm really excited to read it. Gary Smith has long been one of my favorite writers--the first long-former whose byline I recognized and looked for each week in my nascent narrative journalism reading days.

Hence, I love Thomas Lake's work and style, even when I ignore my bias as a former colleague of his.

 

[da man]

Did he ever get registered here?

 

[sm72]

Thanks for finding that...

It reads like a Gary Smith story and I don't know if there is a bigger compliment I can give to a writer.

You're right, no bigger compliment than that. Amazing read. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back to SI time and time again. I really wish they stuck to this kind of content a bit more.

 

[Versatile]

Did he ever get registered here?

Registration is open now. He should try again.

And Sports Illustrated has delayed putting most of its magazine stories online for a few weeks now, a good move on their part to protect the integrity of the print product. Only certain stories, mostly tied to major events, go up within the week that a magazine is on the shelves.

 

[sm72]

Did he ever get registered here?

Registration is open now. He should try again.

And Sports Illustrated has delayed putting most of its magazine stories online for a few weeks now, a good move on their part to protect the integrity of the print product. Only certain stories, mostly tied to major events, go up within the week that a magazine is on the shelves.

We did this at the mag I used to work for. It was a much smaller operation, but the change immediately boosted print subscriptions by about 30 percent. I can imagine the effect would be less significant for SI, but getting even a slight percentage increase in subscriptions across a nationwide audience would be huge for print revenue.

 

[Boom_70]

Did he ever get registered here?

Rae Carruth will be out of prison before Lake is cleared for SJ.

 

[RecoveringDesker]

Yes, I'm a stickler for details. All kinds of details. Maybe that's why the writers whom I edited didn't like me much. But ...

From the story:

In less than four minutes, the narrator,Paul Harvey, would spin out wild and true tales that always featured an astonishing revelation at the end, followed by the same eight words: "And now you know the rest of the story."

The same EIGHT words? Try nine.

 

[sm72]

Yes, I'm a stickler for details. All kinds of details. Maybe that's why the writers whom I edited didn't like me much. But ...

From the story:

In less than four minutes, the narrator,Paul Harvey, would spin out wild and true tales that always featured an astonishing revelation at the end, followed by the same eight words: "And now you know the rest of the story."

The same EIGHT words? Try nine.

I would love you as an editor, FYI. Something like that making it in...yikes.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Yes, I'm a stickler for details. All kinds of details. Maybe that's why the writers whom I edited didn't like me much. But ...

From the story:

In less than four minutes, the narrator,Paul Harvey, would spin out wild and true tales that always featured an astonishing revelation at the end, followed by the same eight words: "And now you know the rest of the story."

The same EIGHT words? Try nine.

We had something similar on an editing test I took at one place I worked. It was one of the ones I missed. :D

If you catch something like that, chances are you're a pretty damn good copy editor.

 

[Azrael]

Yes, I'm a stickler for details. All kinds of details. Maybe that's why the writers whom I edited didn't like me much. But ...

From the story:

In less than four minutes, the narrator,Paul Harvey, would spin out wild and true tales that always featured an astonishing revelation at the end, followed by the same eight words: "And now you know the rest of the story."

The same EIGHT words? Try nine.

We had something similar on an editing test I took at one place I worked. It was one of the ones I missed. :D

If you catch something like that, chances are you're a pretty damn good copy editor.

Unless a desker's the one who created the error by adding the word 'and' to the beginning of the quoted sentence in the interest of 'accuracy.'

That happens, too.

 

[Cubbiebum]

I wonder, does the kid have a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The kid looks exactly like his dad.

I was at the same football camps as Rae in high school. He was a strange one, even back then. I never thought he'd kill someone, but I remember he was quite the loner and he was probably the highest-recruited kid there.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

There was a story shortly after the murder where they talked to a GM about why Carruth fell so far in the draft. He was rated the top receiver by most of the experts, and some projected him in the top 10-15 and he fell to the end of the first. I think the story was about whether teams had an inkling that Carruth was f-d in the head before the draft.

One of the GMs was looking at his notes and said he wrote down, "Good speed, not a killer..."

 

[3OctaveFart]

This story was covered three years ago.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/11/15/193003/rae-carruths-son-triumphs-over.html

 

[clintrichardson]

Yes, I'm a stickler for details. All kinds of details. Maybe that's why the writers whom I edited didn't like me much. But ...

From the story:

via the magic of the internet, the story now says "nine words." online, at least
In less than four minutes, the narrator,Paul Harvey, would spin out wild and true tales that always featured an astonishing revelation at the end, followed by the same eight words: "And now you know the rest of the story."

The same EIGHT words? Try nine.

We had something similar on an editing test I took at one place I worked. It was one of the ones I missed. :D

If you catch something like that, chances are you're a pretty damn good copy editor.

 

[MeanGreenATO]

Listening to the likes of Jones, Junod, Lake and Laskas at the Mayborn this year was one of the best things a journalist could experience. Lake said he'll wait till everybody's done reporting a story so he can report things they way he wants to. Then he gave one of the best quotes of the weekend. "I'm not trying to be timely. I'm trying to write something people will remember."

 

[Dick Whitman]

Listening to the likes of Jones, Junod, Lake and Laskas at the Mayborn this year was one of the best things a journalist could experience. Lake said he'll wait till everybody's done reporting a story so he can report things they way he wants to. Then he gave one of the best quotes of the weekend. "I'm not trying to be timely. I'm trying to write something people will remember."

I love Lake's stuff. He's great.

That being said, as far as that quote ...

Good work if you can get it!