WORK: The Day This Reporter Met Superman by AnnePhyllisPinzow

Anne Phyllis Pinzow is a script writer who makes her main living as a newspaper reporter and editor. See homework assignment below.

Suggested Headline: The day this reporter met Superman

By Anne Phyllis Pinzow Staff Writer

Rarely do I get literally knocked off my socks but about 25 years ago when some colleagues clustered around a magazine in the newsroom and asked me if I had seen the picture of the new guy playing Superman it happened.

I just flopped down into a chair. G-d he was gorgeous. It was Christopher Reeve.
Dutifully, like any read blooded American woman, I went to see the Superman movies and giggled along with my giggling friends as the comic book hero came to life before our eyes and flew.

Not too many years later, a friend of mine was coming to visit from another country and I asked her if there was anything special she wanted to do. "See Superman," she said.

Well, at first I thought that was impossible, the latest movie was no longer playing. However, lo and behold, Christopher Reeve (who she was obsessively fanatic about) was opening in "The Fifth of July," on Broadway and so I managed to get orchestra seats for the first show.

Well, we went and surprise of surprise, sitting in the seat next to me was another heartthrob of the time, Michael York.

Elbowing my friend I whispered, "Ssshhhhh, I'm sitting next to Michael York."
She looked over to him quickly and then sat back elbowing me and stage whispering, "Behave yourself." Funny, since she was the one who was always drooling over the pictures and obsessing about meeting celebrities.

We all watched the show, which was about an embittered Vietnam Veteran confined to a wheelchair due to his paraplegic condition.

After the show, my friend dragged me over to the stage door to get an autograph but I insisted we not get on line but wait until everyone else had finished with their autographs and visits.

And so it was that when the last autograph seeker had left, we approached Mr. Reeve.

The man was obviously very tired and the smile on his face was slipping a bit but he graciously reached out his hand for the program book my friend was handing him.
I pushed her hand down and said to him, "Mr. Reeve, we don't need your autograph, but we want to thank you for a most wonderful experience. We really enjoyed the show very much and your performance was fantastic."

I grabbed my friend's arm and we turned to leave.

Suddenly he called to us, "Girls," which startled me because we were both older than him, "wait a minute."

Of course we did.

He invited the two of us back to his dressing room where he offered us some sodas and asked us about ourselves. He told us about some upcoming projects and satisfied my friend's curiosity about more Superman movies and did eventually autograph her program book.

But the one thing that stuck with me was that this was a really nice man. It wasn't the first time I had met someone who's reputation was in the realm of "celebrity" status but it was, by far, the most memorable because he seemed so appreciative of the fact that he had fans.

Through the years, remarkably, I would run into him at various events and though we never spoke, he always had a smile, whether it was for me because he remembered our 20-minute meeting or not was really not relevant. But that he did always have a smile for a fan, especially in the days that many celebrities belittled and berated fans, just showed me what a really gracious person Christopher Reeve was.

When I heard about his accident, I, along with million were devastated and awaited news of the super-star's death.

The odds of survival were very small, yet Christopher Reeve lived and used his so-called infirmity to do amazing things.

It was then when I realized, I had thought that years ago, I had met a wonderfully nice and gracious star named Christopher Reeve.

But really, I had met Superman. Other's have since and will again play that role on television and in the movies. Christopher Reeve, was and forever will be, for me, the real, and for real Superman.

He will be missed.

Anne's Rules for writing obits:

1) Make sure the person is dead. This might seem obvious but actually it's not. There have been times when people have been reported dead, "The news of my death is highly exaggerated," when they were still alive and kicking. Mark Twain comes immediately to mind.

2) Call the closest relative to get the information about the person's life. This phone number can be obtained from the funeral parlor which is making arrangements, and which no doubt called the newspaper to report the death so that you got the assignment.

It can be rough, but remember that this is your job. People will want an obit about their dearly departed. Don't be afraid to ask questions but don't get controversial. Just ask for information.

You will have to call friends and family for information when you're reporting on the death and no doubt you will be telling them the first news. In other words, they'll be finding out the person is dead from you.

Keep calm and don't let it shake you. Just give them the information which they will ask of you and ask your questions. Be sensitive and if they ask you for a little time to compose their thoughts, give as much as you can but make an appointment, like "May I call back in an hour?" They'll be very appreciative of it and much more likely to answer your questions.

Be factual and double check everything you can because these people are dealing with death and not seeing things clearly.

Death of a celebrity is something totally different because the death itself is a news story.

Most newspapers have obits pre-written for any celebrity over a certain age or a celebrity who is known to be ill. By celebrity, I include political figures. These obits are updated every year.

However, when the death has to do with a news story, this can be a bit more difficult. Surviving family members tend to choose one news agency, like AP, to give the info to and if you call they'll tell you to read the AP report.

So go to the neighborhood and ask friends. Find the church or synagogue, ask fellow congregants. Just do the legwork. Check the internet. Be persistant with family but don't push. Ask friends to ask.

If you have a good reputation, you'll get better results and your reputation is based on your performance with previous articles. So start carefully.

Here's another example -- my first published Obituary on Reverand Peter Lappin.

I was asked to write an obit for the Reverand Peter Lappin who was the spiritual leader to the Rockland County Ancient Order of Hibernians.

This was the first obit I had ever written and as usual had some interesting experiences.

First, because this was a man of quite a bit of celebrity I went to the monestary
where he had spent his last years.

The body was lying in state in the adjoining room and funeral arrangements were being made at the same time I was doing my interviews.

I was also given a picture for publication, a huge framed photograph which was to be scanned. The picture was at least half my height. I was charged with the care and return of the picture and took this seriously.

I left it with the photography section to scan in and they did. I wrote the obit and the next day upon opening the paper found a large X where the obit picture was to be.

The printing facility had failed to put in the picture and guess who had to explain this to the survivors!

Well, luckily, since the paper planned to run the obit again, with the picture, no one was peeved and in fact took the whole mix-up very well. However, I did quite a few mea culpas, no pun-intended, even though this was not my fault.

However, because of this, I got the reputation of being fully capable of handling "the tough ones."

Also, while writing this article I did encounter several people who had not heard of the
Reverand's passing.

At risk of being repetitive, let me just add that it's rough to tell people that a loved one has died and then to have to ask questions about the person. But it's always best to remember, you are doing a valuable service. The news has to get out and the more responsible the reporter, the better the rememberance people will have.

As seen in this example, what you write might be used in an official memorial to the
deceased. It's imporant that you get it right and do your best.

Always, always, always, think about how your work will be used. For that reason alone, get the facts and get it right.

One entry point for new people trying to get into the field would be to submit an obituary of a local figure that the local paper might not have a file for, but whose life changed the community. Or some minor celebrity whose family lives locally.

An obit isn't so much about style but about information.

Each newspaper has it's own style but it's the quality of the information that's important.

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HOMEWORK: Contrast/Compare two styles of Obituary. This one on Christopher Reeve, who played Superman, and the following writers-l post is on the death of Gordon Cooper, an astronaut who could easily have been Superman too.

Here is the Gordon Cooper obituary posted to writers-l:

This gives you 3 carefully chosen obituaries to study. In that writers-l post detailing Gorder Cooper's obituary, you will find a homework assignment to write an obituary of someone you knew personally, or admired.

Once you've done that, perhaps a couple of times to get the hang of it, watch carefully for online announcements of a death of someone your newspaper or other publication might want to print an obituary on -- research, write and submit before the appropriate time for printing an obituary has passed.

Workshop: The Day This Reporter Met Superman by Anne Phyllis Pinzow

Anne's Rules for writing obits:

Workshop: The Day This Reporter Met Superman
by
Anne Phyllis Pinzow