Post Time
In the days when the New York Times was The Grey Lady, a sometimes-ponderous read, a more lively brand of seriousness was available at The Washington Post. It seemed ahead in the game of writing, as opposed to just typing. As recently as the tenure of Eric Wemple (now at the NYT), the Post offered a powerful and cogent report on its media environment. And even after brutal staff cuts year after year, the paper still covered the world, and its hometown, with what my friend Derek Smalls would describe as “Balls”. (https://www.deezer.com/search/Derek%20Smalls.%20%20Balls)
Suddenly all that is a distant memory. It took a while, but media observers have now connected the money-saving evisceration of the Post’s newsroom with its owner’s $75 million “investment” in a pseudo-doc about, and produced by, the wife of the Felon-in-Chief. The effrontery of the former is a perfect match for the lap-doggery of the latter. There is, however, one person who dissents from the chorus of disapproval. He’s not actually among us any more but, improbably enough, he got into heaven, and, even more improbably, he’s still taping. You can hear his celebratory conversation with H.R. Haldeman on my podcast this week (harryshearer.com and most podcast platforms). Mr. Bezos would be flattered.
Nixon is the ONE
🧵In the wee hours of this morning—yes, THIS very morning—I was listening to Jean Shepherd on the YouTube, from mid-January, 1974. The given title was “Super Bowl” something or other.
But a good part of the show had to do with names, and the honorific, “Ms.”. I wonder if you remember that episode.
Jean was talking about Ask Ann Landers, & Dear Abby, and Miss Amy Vanderbilt got into the conversation.
Jean’s anecdote was that one time at WOR, he had received a job offer addressed to Ms. Jean Shepherd, from a magazine that he didn’t name.
They had seen “Ms. Shepherd’s” writing in Playboy, and wanted “her” to write for them.
Jean both read the letter AND sent it back to the sender, with “No such person at this address” written on it.
Somehow, the manners maven Amy Vanderbilt heard that a certain writer, “Ms. Jean Shepherd,” had sent mail back that used the honorific title Ms.
Then Amy was asked about the whole Ms. thing in her column, and she replied that she really didn’t like “Ms.,” and “did you know, the writer of note, Jean Shepherd, had sent back mail that addressed her as Ms.?”
But Amy said she had softened her stance somewhat since that happened!
Shows to go you what happens when one’s name is spelled Jean instead of Gene, 👀.