My time at Deseret News thus far has been rife with intrigue, hard work and valuable learning experiences. Also, it's been filled with strange occurrences and off-the-wall sources. Today marked a particularly interesting situation.
Here's an e-mail I sent out to a fellow reporter in the midst of my story -- it's since been passed around at work:
So...very interesting, but morbid development today in the line of duty. I head up to the JSB [on BYU's campus] for the lecture to find a mere eight people in the auditorium, seemingly waiting to watch Mr. Daines [New York Department of Health Commissioner] talk about the intricacies of Public Health -- or so I thought. However, after the clock strikes 11:10 a.m., I begin to realize something is wrong that even Mormon Standard Time can't properly account for. Promptly, I Google'd the event to see if I had come at the wrong time or experienced a stroke. Just above the BYU calendar link lies about three articles, relaying the sudden, unexpected death of one Richard F. Daines at the very end of February. A few additional minutes of searching confirms it -- our potential speaker poised to assuage our shared inner-geek is no longer with us. Now I sit here with only a few stragglers in the dim auditorium, feeling grateful for my health (he still delivered a powerful posthumous message) and ready to pack up my recorder and camera.
An interesting albeit sad day, worthy of entry in my journalistic diary.
Hope your other lectures fare better today!
Chase
