Bill Walsh Lending Library Dedicated at The Washington Post

Yesterday was an emotional one, seeing this sweet post my sister-in-law shared from The Washington Post newsroom. My brother’s book collection meant the world to him, and was so reflective of who he was — filled with titles about language, tennis, boxing, food and music. But it also revealed how diverse and inquisitive he was. (I remember being stunned that he owned an obscure gay memoir by an acquaintance of mine in NYC, and he never met a serial killer he didn’t want to know more about!) Seeing his things not where they belong — on his beloved custom built-in bookshelves in his dining-room-cum-office — is the hardest part. But it’s also comforting to know that so many people who loved and respected him will have access to them and, as a result, a little piece of him. 

Jacqueline writes:

Today, at long last, we officially dedicated the Bill Walsh Lending Library in the Post newsroom. A beautiful plaque (joining the elite club of Ben Bradlee, Meg Greenfield, and Michel du Cille), lovely remarks by Courtney Rukan and Vince Rinehart, and more than a bit of wistfulness from the Widow Walsh. June brings the anniversaries of the rapid descent into what would become The Stupidest Thing Ever, so I'm glad to be adding a new memory to slightly tip the scales for this month. Thanks to all who attended.

There's more than this, but too hard to get it all in the shot.

 

xo

Remains of the Day (01/15)

ATP World Tour: First Dominic Thiem's "good friend" Rico Bellotti deletes his Instagram account, and now Thiem has a new "best friend"?

The New York Times: Rex Reed is still here, damn it

Boy Culture: Touching remembrances of teen hustlers, kept boys and XXX actors

New York Post: Gwyneth Paltrow actually got a Go-Go’s musical to B’way / info/tickets update HERE

The WoW Report: When his son brings home a gay porn star, Dad's reaction is shocking

AmericaBlog: Playing fetch with sea lions at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. (video)

The Film Experience: "Jumanji" and "The Post" top weekend box office

HuffPost: Celebrities react to the death of Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries

Towleroad: Donald tells reporters he's the "least racist person you will ever interview" 

Deep Dish: Check out the gear shift on this guy

Homorazzi: Meet Mr. Gay Pride Australia 2018 -- yowza

Dlisted: "Modern Family" like to end after next year's Season 10

The Washington Post: Vulgarity used by Donald projected onto his D.C. hotel

The Randy Report: Virginia Senate committee votes down adding LGBT-inclusive hate crimes bill

Curbed: What $400,000 buys in NYC now

OMG Blog: Olympic diver Nicholas Robinson-Baker flaunts what's crammed in his Speedo

PinkNews: Man robbed at gunpoint during Grindr hookup

TeleSur: An American bloodbath Down Under, including 2017 finalist Venus Williams

TVLine: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's romance to become a Lifetime movie

Gr8er Days: Darlanne Fluegel, "Eyes of Laura Mars" actress, dies at 64

Greg in Hollywood: When "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" was Broadway's biggest booster

Outsports: Gay former football player finds incredible acceptance in the South(?)

Vintage NYT: Does Katie Roiphe's much-maligned 1993 date rape article sound any better in 2017?

Back2Stonewall: Florida to offer free HIV prevention drug PrEP statewide

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A post shared by Cat Lovers Club (@catloversclub) on Jan 13, 2018 at 11:01pm PST

Hot Cat of the Day: Harvey would be good at this, so long as it was his idea to get in the booth!

The Bill Walsh Lending Library Established

My sister-in-law, Jacqueline, shared these photos on Facebook on Friday, announcing that some of my brother Bill's books had been moved to his old newsroom to establish The Bill Walsh Lending Library:

It is an understatement to say that Bill Walsh enjoyed building collections of books on subjects that interested him. His books on boxing, tennis, food, newspapers, Washington, Detroit, Kennedy, serial killers {ahem}, TV, and music along with the sizable lineup of memoirs, fiction, and classics titles could probably function as a wholly acceptable small-town library. But the books that meant the most to him were of course the ones on language and editing. It made perfect sense that he stood in front of these when I took the picture that became the author photo on "Yes, I Could Care Less." ... From Safire's "On Language" to the Buffalo News Style Manual (yes, really) to more dictionaries than any human should own, these shelves do more to keep Bill's legacy at the Post vibrant than just a photo on a wall would ever do.

Each new bit of information puts a giant pit in my stomach -- his familiar handwriting on the sign, the penmanship that was so nice we used it for personalized stationery at my childhood office-supply business (Handitover House), the note he wrote (below) and simply seeing his books again. 

But above all it makes me happy -- and proud -- that the legacy of his knowledge and love of language lives on so beautifully.

'Grey Gardens' Mansion Hits Market for Nearly $20 Million

You won't believe what Sally Quinn and her late Washington Post editor hubby, Ben Bradlee, did with Big and Little Edie's old digs. Read HERE.

Hot plate and raccoons sold separately ...

The Washington Post to Allow Singular ‘They’

My Washington Post brother and I have talked about issues surrounding covering transgenders and people who identify as queer -- the "Mx." honorific (pronounced Mix), etc. Now comes this style memo from him, via Poynter:

It is usually possible, and preferable, to recast sentences as plural to avoid both the sexist and antiquated universal default to male pronouns and the awkward use of he or she, him or her and the like: All students must complete their homework, not Each student must complete his or her homework. When such a rewrite is impossible or hopelessly awkward, however, what is known as “the singular they” is permissible: Everyone has their own opinion about the traditional grammar rule. The singular they is also useful in references to people who identify as neither male nor female.

As for Mx., Poynter reports that The New York Times standards editor Philip B. Corbett said in June that the Grey Lady was taking a wait-and-see approach.

“I don’t think we’re likely to adopt Mx. in the near future,” Mr. Corbett said. “It remains too unfamiliar to most people, and it’s not clear when or if it will emerge as a widely adopted term.”

The Washington Post Kindly Explains Why Indiana's Anti-Gay Law Is 'Such a Big Deal'

Answering five questions about Indiana’s new discrimination law

I pride myself on not being easily "offended," but I sure find the phrasing of this question in Paul Waldman's Washington Post Q-and-A about Indiana's new discrimination law to be unnecessarily flippant. I get that it's written from a layman's point of view -- not an LGBT activist -- but doesn't EVERYONE agree that something like "Are there any other reasons this has garnered so much attention" or "attracted so much scrutiny" would be more sensitive than saying "such a big deal?" The very notion that there needs to be "other reasons" is galling, too. A religious-freedom law -- unprecedented in its awfulness -- was enacted to TARGET certain people and make it legal to humiliate and rob them of their civil rights based on who they are. That's why it's SUCH A BIG DEAL -- for crying out loud! Do we need "other reasons"? Really awful. And this is from the so-called liberal media???

It's a just a law targeting fags, no biggie.

Campy Hobo

Jerri Blank would totally love this guy!

From The Washington Post, Oct. 7, 1909:

"Me bumming money?" shouted McDonald, "not on your life. I am a decent, hard-workin' Irishman, and if I gets drunk once in a while I am the one that suffers most, not the community. I have been in Washington six months, and this is my first offense. I will see the priest this afternoon, if your honor will let me go, and a five-year pledge for mine." 

Hand Jobs Aplenty

Front-page news from The Washington Post, Jan. 2, 1909.

Page 1 Consider (10/22)

Ben Bradlee, Washington Editor and Watergate Warrior, Dies at 93

Legendary editor transformed The Washington Post

Cruzing for a Bruisin'

Zing!

Yesterday's News

The Next Edition

Katharine Weymouth Takes Charge at the Washington Post 

 Catching up on my newspaper reading and discovered that a mere 72 hours before the Graham family sold The Washington Post to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, The New York Times did an extensive profile on publisher Katharine Weymouth. In it, writer Sheryl Gay Stolberg quotes Robert G. Kaiser, a Post associate editor who has worked at the paper for 50 years, as saying: “She has a burden. Your biggest anxiety ... is: ‘Am I going to screw this up? Am I the one who is going to be remembered as the goof-off who couldn’t keep it together?’”Well, yes and no. Sure, she wasn't able to magically "turn the ship around," as it were. But she's in very good company. And before you feel too sorry for her, remember this: With the legendary Kay Graham as her grandmother, socialite Lally Weymouth as her mother and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth as her aunt, she's got enough stories for a lifetime of dinner parties. And to top it off, she's not even losing her job -- even though she doesn't need the money! Read HERE.