Monday, May 17, 2010

The Rumors of His Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

I had a bit of a shock this morning when I checked the Hartford Courant online to see if they had picked up on the news of the Board of Education investigation and audit (they hadn't). I saw a headline that sure looked like an obituary headline to me.

"Lucy," I shouted with tears in my eyes, thinking that John's recent heart problems had caught up with him. "John Basinger died."

He didn't. I scanned the article and couldn't understand why it didn't mention how or why he had died, until I realized it wasn't an obituary.

The web hed, Middletown Man, 76, Memorized Paradise Lost, is in the same format as any death announcement.

It turns out that the story is a very engaging front page piece with a very different hed in the printed version: In Memorizing 'Paradise Lost,' A Challenge Found.

As Lucy said, it may be the best way to start a morning, thinking that a good friend has died, and then realizing he hasn't.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2010 at 10:01 AM

    the link to the headline is formatted as a link to a "mail to:" link. so, you can't click on it to go to the article. it should be just a link to "http:..." not "mailto:..."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tree FanaticMay 17, 2010 at 10:53 AM

    Ed, I did the same thing when I saw the headline (although I didn't say it to Lucy.) What a great relief that John's alive and still reciting! Someone at the Courant really ought to do the work of an editor...

    ReplyDelete
  3. John BasingerMay 18, 2010 at 3:48 PM

    Ed,

    I am almost as happy to be alive as to learn that you hold me in sufficient regard to mourn my passing, whenever it happens.

    Appreciatively,

    John

    ReplyDelete

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