Dying for the LA Times

(SAMIZDAT ˈsä-mÄ”z-ËŒdät noun: a system in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and countries within its orbit by which government-suppressed literature was clandestinely printed and distributed; also : such literature)

Yesterday, I got a sad email from Sam Izdat who, when he’s not going by that name, calls himself the Inkstainedretch, and is the anonymous blogger who posts at Tell Zell.

It seems that the Retch, (or Sam Izat. I’m confused about which nom de blog he prefers), had awakened to the news that Ken Reich, a beloved, highly respected and unusually colorful former LA Times reporter (of 39 years duration) had died during the night. While “The Retch” has been blogging anonymously about the newspaper-destroying disaster that is Sam Zell, Ken Reich had his own blog called Take Back the Times, which was—as its name suggests—also aimed at somehow rescuing our hometown paper from the rampaging Visigoth. Here’s what “the Retch” had to say about Reich.

For the past week, Reich had been furiously writing mini-biographies of many of the LA Times journalists that have departed the newspaper. He called them “Rolls of Honor.” In an email to me a week ago, Reich told me that he was inspired by the -30- lists and wanted to take the project to the next level by specifying the contributions of those on the list. That way, he said, he could show the damage done by Zell, the Tribune and their senseless continuous cuts:

I’m in the project for the next few days of specifying what many of the people on your list did when they were at the newspaper, to make it great.

I responded by praising his work. In response, he sent me this two days ago:

We’ve all got to keep working at this, in hopes we can get rid of Tribune before the paper is destroyed. Best, Ken Reich

Then, last night, he sent me a final message at 2:16 a.m. to alert me about a post he had just written. It praised calls for action against Zell, including a suggestion of a July 9 Tribune sick out here. It turned out to be his last post.

Clearly Reich, 70, was fighting the good fight quite literally up until the last. His caregiver was unable to wake him in the morning. At Take Back the Times Reich’s daughter has written a little about her dad and a string of Times reporters and friends have posted tributes that are very much worth reading.

Meanwhile over at the beleaguered LA Times, Patt Morrison remembers a colleague saying that Reich once ended a telephone conversation thusly:

”… and THAT, my good woman, is why YOU are a telephone operator and I am a reporter for the Los Angeles Times!”

NOTE: At Tell Zell Times employees are voting whether to do a sickout on July 9. So far, sentiment is running very much against the idea. People are way too spooked about getting fired to take the risk.

Thus, in an effort to cover all bases, the Retch together with Wired writer, Mat Honan, has designed a handy resignation form so that those who do get axed—sickout or no sickout—-can flame out in style.