How Donald Duncan's second obituary came to be written.

Photo credit: New York Times.

First there was an obituary.

Donald W. Duncan, 79, Ex-Green Beret and Early Critic of Vietnam War, Is Dead, by Robert D. McFadden (NYT)

Mr. Duncan, who died in obscurity in 2009, wrote in 1966 of witnessing atrocities by American troops and helped organize antiwar protests.

The, a week later came the explanation. It sheds light into the editorial process at a newspaper (just imagine if ours attempted any such), and suggests that it's still possible to disappear in plain sight in places like ...

An Obituary Runs Seven Years After the Subject’s Death. What Happened?, by William McDonald

Obituaries editor William McDonald explains why The Times decided to remember a once-famous activist who had slipped into obscurity, seven years after his death.


... In sum, Mr. Duncan made an appreciable impact on the national discussion of the war; he had for a time been a newsmaker, and by The Times’s rule of thumb his death was thus newsworthy. The obituary ran online on May 6, and in the paper on May 8.

What was unusual about the obituary, however, was how belated it was. Mr. Duncan had died seven years earlier, on March 25, 2009. And therein lies a tale, about a life in which notoriety gave way to its flip side, obscurity, and about a journalistic decision in which one imperative of reporting — to be timely — deferred to a greater one: to simply get the story out.

 ... Madison, Indiana, where Donald Duncan's death notice appeared seven years ago.

Duncan's 2009 obituary in the Madison Courier.

Gotta proverb for that? Meanwhile, New Albany’s bicentennial history, error-by-error.

It's hard to believe that Gregg Seidl turned down the News and 'Bune's invitation to serve on (another) select small advisory committee, one charged with suggesting weekly New Albany bicentennial story ideas to a congenitally absentee newspaper management cadre that bears bearing no real sense of New Albany.

Gregg WAS asked, right?

But of course he wasn't, and I knew that when I asked the question at Facebook. Gregg replied with tact, grace and dignity, and he is to be commended for taking the high road, as always.

I'll speak only for myself: This is not about Dave Barksdale, Vic Meginnity and Marcia Booker, the advisory committee members enumerated in the editor's explanatory piece (below). They'll come up with solid, predictable, conservative suggestions for a solid, predictable, conservative series, one best read while baking white bread out of surplus school paste and Coors Light.

Rather, it's about the News and 'Bune's typically and traditionally tone deaf way of doing business, and the city's utter, ongoing bungling of the bicentennial to date.

Gregg should have been consulted about the megabuck coffee table book that was farmed with borrowed money to an out-of-state, paid hack. He wasn't asked. Now he isn't asked to contribute to the newspaper's weekly effort, dooming us to the same view of the same people ... yet again.

I'd ask the newspaper's management to speak for itself, but frankly I'm afraid it might result in the publisher's daily social media Bible verses becoming pop-up ads at the web site. Then I'd have to get really annoyed. Are these people ever going to get it?

Now there's a bicentennial article idea, Amanda.

VAN HOY: New Albany’s history, week-by-week, by Shea Van Hoy (News and 'Bune)

The News and Tribune would like to thank the three committee members who helped brainstorm ideas for this list and will continue to be a wealth of information through the year-long series. We wish to publicly recognize David Barksdale, Marcia Booker and Vic Megenity for their participation and keen memories.

Truly, you can't answer the question without a scorecard.

Once upon a time, I asked a baseball manager to explain how he went about running his team's games.

When is the right time to pinch hit? How are strengths and weaknesses played against each other? What’s the ideal situation and pitch count for the hit and run play? Do you bunt for a run early against a better pitcher? In short, what sort of thinking goes into your maneuvering during games?

He thought about it for a minute and said this:

“Well, there are nine innings of three outs each inning. We play during the day, except when it's a night game. We carry 10 pitchers, 3 catchers, 6 infielders and 5 outfielders on our roster. The team bus is a Ford, and we like to eat at Denny’s after the game. Does that help?”

Coincidentally, here’s an explanation of the thought processes behind editorial decision-making at the News and Tribune.

VAN HOY: The beats go on, but sometimes change; A quick refresher on who does what in the editorial department at this paper, by Shea Van Hoy

SOUTHERN INDIANA — A Wednesday morning conversation on Twitter reminded me that there’s much that goes on at the News and Tribune — or any newspaper for that matter — that the public doesn’t know about or understand.