Obit watch, random notes, and open thread: April 20, 2013.

Al Neuharth, creator of USA Today. USA Today obit.

In 1984, in an effort to push USA Today executives to cut costs, he invited them to a dinner near his home in Cocoa Beach. They arrived to see a long table set with matzo and Manischewitz wine in a mock tableau of the Last Supper and a Passover Seder. At the center sat Mr. Neuharth, a crown of thorns on his head and a huge wooden cross behind him.
“I am the crucified one,” he told the stunned executives, and warned them that they would be “passed over” if the newspaper foundered.

Headline:

Rutgers Men’s Coach Suspended With Pay Amid Investigation

This is not a repeat from two weeks ago.

Today is my birthday. I’m going to be out of pocket most of the day: going to the gun shop, then over to the capitol to take pictures, then on a tour of the UT Tower, and then to dinner. In my absence, consider this an open thread to talk about things you want to talk about: Boston, West, Michael Morton and Ken Anderson, the Astros, the vertical integration of the broiler industry, etc.

(As always, if this is your first time posting, I have to approve your comment. Once you’ve been approved, additional comments should go through without requiring moderation. Comment approval is one blog function I can do fairly easily from my phone, so you should not have to wait too long. Unless I’m driving.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 20th, 2013 at 8:36 am and is filed under Admin, Clippings, Media, Obits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Obit watch, random notes, and open thread: April 20, 2013.”

  1. Glen says:
    April 20, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    Something about putting “trip to gun shop” and “tour of the UT Tower” together in the same sentence is, uhm, disturbing.

  2. stainles says:
    April 20, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    Things that were discussed on the Tower Tour:
    * the urban legend about the Tower having been designed by a Rice grad
    * the guy who has played carillon in the Tower since about 1950, and doesn’t plan to stop until he can no longer get up into the area where the carillon is located
    * his puckish sense of humor
    * the students who are training to replace him when he can’t do it anymore
    * the fact that these students go around and compete in carillon competitions

    Things that were not discussed on the tour:
    * Charles Whitman
    * anything having to do with the events of August 1, 1966

  3. stainles says:
    April 20, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    Also, Glen, would it make you any more uncomfortable to know that I was wearing one of my “shoot me first” vests most of the day?

    (Pretty much had to. Had my hands full downtown, and the Tower Tour doesn’t let you take any bags at all, so where was I going to keep my lenses?)