I hope I don't f--- this up because I don't have Don to clean up behind me. He and Gaynor did all my cop-rewrite stuff in the early days, and they were both tremendously gifted at their craft. Two memories stand out among the many. When we were all stuffed back in that room behind Editorial that I guess is now dedicated to JSK, Don got a call from a distressed reader about some kind of hospital-emergency care foul-up. Now he was strictly rewrite at this stage but instead of handing it off to a general assignment reporter, he spent a couple days on the phone to various agencies and folks before turning in what eventually became a series of stories under his byline that uncovered a serious flaw in the emergency services in Akron (I really can't recall details). Don also threw one of those famous all-night poker parties on the eve of my departure for the Detroit Free Press. A mile-long sub and all the beer we could drink. My oldest son Mark has never forgotten that party because the playas were generous with the tips he'd get for fetching their sandwiches and drinks ... and I went home with about a hundred bucks more than I started the evening with. Don was a great, great newspaperman - one of those unsung heroes of the newsroom who could take a jumble of facts and quotes grabbed on the run and turn it into a smooth, readable story. I last saw Don at the Columbus reunion several years ago and he was the same easy-going, soft-spoken guy I known so long ago. We'll miss ya, Don.
Larry Froelich (ABJ '67-'81)
(Still enjoying retirement in Lexington, KY., auditing classes at UK, doing pro bono editing for an online newspaper in metro Detroit, traveling abroad and visiting my scattered brood.)
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