Passing the Torch

Maybe the news trade didn’t build character, but it built characters. Marquis, Mauldin, Royko, Charlie Reese, Smith Hempstone, Paul Vogel, names ancient and less so, mostly unknown in the wider world. Over drinks, usually lots of drinks, they told wild stores in the press bars of Taipei and Joburg, stories both impossible and sometimes true.

There was Six-Pack Muldoon, a chopper pilot working in Southeast Asia. Always flew with an open six-pack in the cockpit. Asked why, he said, “In thirty years of flying, I’ve only crashed twice. Both times I was sober. I’m not going to risk it again.”

That world is gone. The news biz has been sanitized, made polite and tedious, like a family pool hall with orange felt and no betting.

Reminiscing about days gone by - no one can do it better than Fred Reed.