It was big. Really big.
The reporter had just discovered an escaped convicted killer — on the day of the killer’s execution, no less — and it was a scoop!
The lead to the exclusive story was excitedly being banged out.
“While hundreds of Sheriff Hartwell’s paid gunmen stalked through the city shooting innocent bystanders, spreading their reign of terror, Earl Williams was lurking less than twenty yards from the Sheriff’s Office where …”
But the editor — a devious, self-promoting man — had stopped the reporter in midsentence.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, aren’t you going to mention the Post? Doesn’t the paper get any credit?”
The reporter thought he had that covered.
“Well, I did that. Right there in the second paragraph.”
The editor wasn’t impressed.
“Who’s gonna read the second paragraph?”
Actor-entertainer-writer John Lithgow smiles when he repeats this story. Back in the 1980s he played the devious editor Walter Burns in the classic play “The Front Page.” The above exchange, between reporter and editor, was part of the play.
Lithgow was in town as the featured speaker for the sold-out Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation’s dinner and fundraiser.
“The Front Page” was written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. The play was first produced in 1928.
The 1920s were heady days for newspapers. In Chicago, like many big cities, multiple newspapers competed. That competition was fierce. And often dirty.
The play captured that raucous time in newspapers.
I was able to sneak into the fundraiser dinner Tuesday night and chat with Lithgow. It’s one of my favorite events because it revolves around reading.
Hey, next to a good Italian beef sandwich, what could be better to a news guy?
Lithgow is a brilliant yet unassuming man. If you are lucky enough to get into a conversation with him, it ends up being just as much about you as it is him.
We were talking about the newspaper business when he recalled his stint playing in “The Front Page.”
His eyes beam wide open when you hit on something he enjoys. And the rest of his face joins the party.
And he does enjoy most of his work. “The Front Page” was no exception.
One night, he said, the Lincoln Center theater in New York was packed with journalists to see “The Front Page.” Big-name journalists.
“The line ‘Who’s gonna read the second paragraph?’ always received a good laugh,” Lithgow said. But when the journalists filled the house, the audience was beside itself.
After the play was over, one journalist came backstage and told him, “That’s why I got into the business.”
A lot has changed in the newspaper business since 1928. Heck, a lot has changed since 1986 when he did the play.
But it’s probably fair to say most of us got into the business — then and now — for the same reasons: Covering the big breaking stories; helping to right the wrongs of the world; informing, educating and entertaining.
Lithgow says he regularly reads the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. And he said he appreciates the importance of a free press and the need to pay journalists to help maintain a vibrant democracy.
Hey, if possible, I’m starting to like this guy even more!
So thank you, Mr. Lithgow, for coming to Vancouver and sharing your time … and talent … and words … and thoughts with us.
Now let me see what’s on our story budget. Any escaped murderers today?
Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian’s editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505 or lou.brancaccio@columbian.com.
