I wrote about how my life has been busy chronicling the life of the late William Donald Schaefer. Here’s a look at everything (I think) that my newspaper has published about the former governor, comptroller and mayor of Baltimore.
- First story on his death. (This story had about three versions, this is the third version that appeared in print on April 19.)
- At the Comptroller’s Office, memories of a beloved boss.
- William Donald Schaefer, A life of service. (This is the story from our special section on Schaefer, some of it rehashed from previous stories, some of it new material.
- Reader, reporter memories of Schaefer. (Only a few of these appeared in print in the special section, but we were able to put them all online.)
- The last of the straightforward, warts-and-all politicians. (A column by the editor/publisher for the special section.)
- Mourners line up at State House. (This story was written on tight deadline — Schaefer’s casket arrived at 9:30 a.m. and my story was due at 9:45 a.m.!)
- Goodbye, Governor Schaefer. (My funeral story. Organizers only held spots in the church for the AP, The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun, so I arrived at 7:45 a.m. for the 11 a.m. funeral to make sure I could get into the church for the service, alongside the general public. I wound up sitting in a pew with another reporter and two bigwigs from BGE, oddly enough.)
- Slideshow of Schaefer’s life.
- Slideshow of State House honors for Schaefer.
- Slideshow of Schaefer’s funeral.
Mega kudos go to all of the staff at The Capital who worked on these stories and slideshows and the special section: Eric Hartley, Alexandra Hill, David Lauricella, Nick Lundskow, J. Henson, Joshua McKerrow (who shot Schaefer at the State House with a broken hand!), Laura-Chase McGehee (who shot the funeral on only her second day at The Capital), David Marsters, Shannon Miller, Mark Murphy, Dionne Walker, Tom Marquardt and all of the editors/copy editors.
