Legendary 'Washington Post' Editor Ben Bradlee dies at 93

Politics and Social Issues
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He led a fine life.
From the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ben-bradlee-legendary-washington-post-editor-dies-at-93/2014/10/21/3e4cc1fc-c59c-11df-8dce-7a7dc354d1b1_story.html By Robert G. Kaiser | October 21 Benjamin C. Bradlee, who presided over The Washington Post newsroom for 26 years and guided The Post’s transformation into one of the world’s leading newspapers, died Oct. 21 at his home in Washington of natural causes. He was 93. From the moment he took over The Post newsroom in 1965, Mr. Bradlee sought to create an important newspaper that would go far beyond the traditional model of a metropolitan daily. He achieved that goal by combining compelling news stories based on aggressive reporting with engaging feature pieces of a kind previously associated with the best magazines. His charm and gift for leadership helped him hire and inspire a talented staff and eventually made him the most celebrated newspaper editor of his era. ...
Legendary 'Washington Post' Editor Ben Bradlee Has Died by EYDER PERALTA October 21, 2014 http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/21/357919079/legendary-washington-post-editor-ben-bradlee-has-died
NPR's David Folkenflik filed this obituary for our Newscast unit: "Bradlee was from a long line of Boston Brahmins, a son of privilege who saw combat in the Pacific arena in World War II. Later, as a reporter, he had a knack for striking valuable friendships — with a young Sen. John F. Kennedy, for example. "At Newsweek, Bradlee persuaded his boss, Katharine Graham, to hire him at her Washington Post, where he quickly became executive editor, bestowing glamour on the previously drab newsroom by hiring stylish writers. "Along with the New York Times, Bradlee and the Post defied the Nixon administration to publish the Pentagon Papers, but he was propelled to fame amid the Watergate scandal, which turned into a best-selling book and blockbuster movie. "Bradlee's gut instincts could go awry. He had to give back a Pulitzer Prize won by a budding star about an invented heroin addict, but the Post inspired an entire generation of reporters thanks not just to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein but a larger-than-life editor." ...
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Ben Bradlee’s passing marks the end of an era of print newspaper journalism that has been lost. It will never return.
We’ll still have journalism but it won’t be the same. It was down and dirty, convivial, congenial, exciting, funny
and ink stained. It had its own language, its own culture. There is nothing like a running joke in a newsroom. Rest in peace Ben Bradlee. You were the quintessential newspaper editor in a quintessential time in newspaper journalism. You and newspaper journalism deserve a favored place in history.
Lois