So Long and Thanks for All the Cliches

I have a drawer full of them — unused cliches and extra commas, too. Greg's favorite job as an editor, aside from removing more than half the commas in anything I write, is killing cliches. "Death to all cliches" will probably be on his tombstone. I know he’d make it his license plate if he could, maybe a bumper sticker to go next to "Compassion, the Radicalism of our Age."

That's only one of thousands of things I learned from my boss in the three years I've written for CityBeat. I started as a freelancer and then joined the staff just over two years ago when he took a chance on a rookie. The most important things he taught me aren't in a book; they came from 16 years of experience as a reporter and over seven years as an editor:

• Go into an interview with an open mind; don’t assume you know the story before you’ve heard it from the people living it.

• Be fair and honest. You might expose someone’s unethical or illegal behavior and they won’t be happy about it, but if you’re fair they’re going to be more likely to take your next phone call.

• There is no such thing as objectivity; life experiences affect how we see and hear. That has value and brings strength to your voice.

• “I don’t ask for much. I just want you to slit yourself open and smear your guts on the page.”

• Politicians and other public figures are listed in the phone book. If you can’t get them to respond to their cell or at the office, call them at home.

• “If you disagree with the way I edit your story, explain why. We can talk about it. That doesn’t mean I’ll change my mind, but we can talk about it.”

I won some of those battles and lost some, but Greg always listens and is always straight. He is annoyingly consistent in his refusal to let me make shit up; I’m usually joking about that, but even a half-hearted wish to do so could never become reality under that maddeningly steady look.

I never have to wonder what his hidden agenda might be — there isn’t one. His unwillingness to swallow what he is fed and his inherent distrust of people in power — who always have an agenda that means a price to be paid by someone else — has inspired an amazing amount of insubordination in someone who already had a healthy suspicion of authority. That made me fight being banned from Death Row because some prison official didn’t like what I wrote. Calling in the ACLU with the threat of a lawsuit probably didn’t help my cause either. Yup, Greg’s idea!

I went back to Death Row because of him, and the ACLU — again — and had one of the most powerful interviews of my life. There are going to be a lot of people who will be happy to celebrate Greg’s departure precisely because of that — difficult stories about difficult topics that make people think instead of feel safe and happy and ignorant of the world in which they live.

This is Greg’s last day at CityBeat. Being laid off is rarely easy, but this crusty newspaperman (is that a cliche?) is looking forward to sleeping in for a week before embarking his search for a new way to rattle people out of complacency.

— Margo Pierce
(Photo: YMB)

Comments

[Marilyn]

Damn.

I already expressed my sentiments over on the LOL blog. My words seem lame compared to the sense of loss I feel.

Excellent tribute, Margo.

[Political Junkie]

Word in media circles is Flannery's going to be the next editor of Street Vibes.

[Linda Newman]

Just read the comments in Living Out Loud and Porkpolis blog about Greg. They are well said and true to my experience of Greg as well.

Greg's compassion and ethics are evident in everything he does. I got to know Greg when I was involved with the Coalition for A Just Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Boycott. CityBeat was the only news outlet that I thought fairly and completely (and not always uncritically) reported our struggle, and that's because of Greg.

Porkopolis is just not as fun to read without Greg's writing. (Sorry Margo and Kevin -- you guys do an excellent job of getting the scoop, but I think you might agree with me about Greg's extra touch as a scribe.) He has a way to make the words more elegant and succinct, while still going for the jugular.

If this was CityBeat's decision not his, then CityBeat must either be on the edge of bankruptcy or lunacy.

[Margo Pierce]

Linda,

You get no arguments from me on Greg's ability to add that "certain something" to his writing. He has such a poetic way of nailing people to the wall or building up the importance of their cause.

He moves beyond politics and the PR to get to the truth - that is a skill I can only hope to emulate some day....

[BrianCiesko]

Well, I said this over @ LOL but I'll say it again here - I interned at CityBeat for my last quarter at UC before I graduated and wrote a story about all the ballyhooed and misguided development in the neighborhoods around campus. Greg was a total pro at guiding the direction I was taking in the story and the extra time it took as different elements kept changing, like the settlement for the lot where In The Wood used to stand. And look at it now, just a sparse patch of dirt and grass.
Anyway, I deeply appreciate the patience and professionalism you showed to me and my writing. You and your smooth, eloquent writing have always been an inspiration to me and my semi-warm discipline as a writer. You will be missed.

[Jeff]

Thanks, Margo.

[Paul Clark]

Margo,

Thanks for a lovely tribute to a superb writer and man of rare integrity and courage. Here's hoping his snooze is short.

[North face winter coats]

Very good post. Made me realize I was totally wrong about this issue. I figure that one learns something new everyday. Mrs Right learned her lesson! Nice, informative website by the way.