Brian Bain
Michael Posner
Monday 14 March 2011
Mike was a fine reporter, and a larger than life character. When Pope John Paul II visited the United States in 1979, I asked Mike to do a followup about a dog at the Apostolic Nuncio's residence being moved to another location because it kept barking and howling and there was concern it would disturb His Holiness while he rested.
While Mike was interviewing a bishop on the phone from our office, then in the National Press Building, he stood up and someone removed his chair. Unfazed, Mike knelt and continued to interview the bishop while some of the wags in the newsroom started yelping like dogs. “Yes, Monsignor,” Mike told the bishop, “it’s dogs barking...yes...yes... I can't hear, what...Yes, they are baying at the moon.” Seconds later, as the human yelps continued and Mike raised his voice to be heard over the noise, our bureau chief came trotting out of his office, asking, “Yes, yes, who wants me?” More laughter, then Mike calmly said, “Thank you, Monsignor...” put down the ’phone and, pen and paper in hand and mustache bristling, growled at no one in particular, “Good doggie, good doggie...woof, woof...”
Brian Bain
While Mike was interviewing a bishop on the phone from our office, then in the National Press Building, he stood up and someone removed his chair. Unfazed, Mike knelt and continued to interview the bishop while some of the wags in the newsroom started yelping like dogs. “Yes, Monsignor,” Mike told the bishop, “it’s dogs barking...yes...yes... I can't hear, what...Yes, they are baying at the moon.” Seconds later, as the human yelps continued and Mike raised his voice to be heard over the noise, our bureau chief came trotting out of his office, asking, “Yes, yes, who wants me?” More laughter, then Mike calmly said, “Thank you, Monsignor...” put down the ’phone and, pen and paper in hand and mustache bristling, growled at no one in particular, “Good doggie, good doggie...woof, woof...”
Brian Bain
Patrick Massey
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Pat was a one-of-a-kind journalist and a good man personally. Yet another numbing loss to add to the list of fine Reuters people who have left us these past 12 months. Never ending...
Brian Bain
Brian Bain
Arthur Spiegelman
Monday 22 December 2008
Many tributes here and elsewhere have referred to Arthur’s artistry with words and Brian Bain recalls his kindly nature. He was a giant, as Brian says, and a gentle one at that. His way of dealing with conflict was to defuse the tension with ingenious humour. In New York in the late 1970s he was hauled before the boss at 1700 Broadway, Mel Beiser, to be rebuked for some now unremembered misdemeanour. Art’s riposte was to crawl under the boss’s desk and refuse to come out until the shouting stopped. Employee relations manuals didn’t teach managers what to do in the face of such imagination.
Barry May
Barry May
Arthur Spiegelman
Monday 22 December 2008
Art Spiegelman was among the most accomplished writers in any genre and a pleasure to edit, but I will always remember him as a very dear friend who found it virtually impossible to say or do anything unkind.
All the tributes when he went on full medical leave and since his untimely death are on the mark. But I’m certain everyone who worked with Art would agree that mere words hardly do full justice to his writing abilities and his kindly nature.
In the years I was in Washington and New York and was charged with helping put together Reuter teams for special events – elections, a Papal visit, summits in the United States, etc – Art Spiegelman was the first name penciled in. As Dave Betts notes, Art never let anyone down.
What else is there to say – he was a giant. I was fortunate to count him as a friend and colleague, and if Reuters had a “wall” to honor its exceptional talents, Art Spiegelman’s name would be there.
Brian Bain
All the tributes when he went on full medical leave and since his untimely death are on the mark. But I’m certain everyone who worked with Art would agree that mere words hardly do full justice to his writing abilities and his kindly nature.
In the years I was in Washington and New York and was charged with helping put together Reuter teams for special events – elections, a Papal visit, summits in the United States, etc – Art Spiegelman was the first name penciled in. As Dave Betts notes, Art never let anyone down.
What else is there to say – he was a giant. I was fortunate to count him as a friend and colleague, and if Reuters had a “wall” to honor its exceptional talents, Art Spiegelman’s name would be there.
Brian Bain
David Mathew
Monday 22 September 2008
David Mathew was a good friend and among the very top tier of filing editors in Reuters. Even in retirement in Sarasota, Florida, he implacably tracked factual and grammatical errors in the local newspapers and TV. (Allan Barker summed up his abilities admirably, and I fully agree with Colin McIntyre on what David would have thought about today’s “karaoke filing”.)
David’s memory was unbelievable. We vividly remember him playing trivia (the Canadian version) when he was on a desk assignment in New York – and, of course, he knew all the answers, no matter how obscure.
I, for one, will miss our frequent phone and email exchanges, and occasional dinners, critiquing news reports and the increasing disregard of the need for strong and impartial reporting and editing.
His death was a real shock to us. My wife Barbara and I spent a couple of days with David and Hilda at their Palm Beach holiday retreat a few weeks ago and we had talked and exchanged emails since – the last occasion just a couple of days before he died.
He was in good spirits and there was no indication of any problems. His biggest concern was always and overwhelmingly Hilda’s health.
Friends and colleagues have paid wonderful tribute to David, and I echo their sentiments. We’ll miss him.
Brian Bain
David’s memory was unbelievable. We vividly remember him playing trivia (the Canadian version) when he was on a desk assignment in New York – and, of course, he knew all the answers, no matter how obscure.
I, for one, will miss our frequent phone and email exchanges, and occasional dinners, critiquing news reports and the increasing disregard of the need for strong and impartial reporting and editing.
His death was a real shock to us. My wife Barbara and I spent a couple of days with David and Hilda at their Palm Beach holiday retreat a few weeks ago and we had talked and exchanged emails since – the last occasion just a couple of days before he died.
He was in good spirits and there was no indication of any problems. His biggest concern was always and overwhelmingly Hilda’s health.
Friends and colleagues have paid wonderful tribute to David, and I echo their sentiments. We’ll miss him.
Brian Bain
