Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Michael Kelly, 1957-2003
The Weekly Standard ^ | 04/14/03 | David Brooks

Posted on 04/05/2003 7:06:36 AM PST by Pokey78

Farewell to a great newspaperman.

MICHAEL KELLY was born into a newspaper family. His father Tom was a reporter on the Washington Daily News. His mother Marguerite writes the wonderful "Family Almanac" column for the Washington Post.

Sometime over the past few decades reporters became journalists, but Michael never really made the leap. He shunned TV. He was not a natural at symposia and panel discussions. He remained, until his death in a Humvee accident in Iraq Friday, a newspaperman.

In other words, he lived low but read high. He wanted and needed to be out where the action was. As a young reporter at the Cincinnati Post he exposed abuses of power in the statehouse and on the state supreme court, in prize-winning series. His unmatched coverage of Desert Storm for the New Republic ended up in his book, "Martyrs' Day," by common agreement the most beautiful and gripping account of that war. He approached each story not as a sociologist, looking down and analyzing the people he was covering, but as a curious man among his fellows. Going back to Iraq and getting embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division in this conflict was risky, but it is impossible to imagine the war without Mike there. He wouldn't have been Mike if he hadn't gone.

A few days before his death, he told the New York Times that it was important that the experiences of the regular soldiers, rather than just the tactics and decisions of the generals, be recorded for posterity. In his final dispatches, he described the bizarre through-the-looking-glass world of young Americans who found themselves fighting against an unprincipled foe--forced to kill onrushing Iraqi soldiers, even while knowing that many of those Iraqis didn't really want to fight. They were merely trying to safeguard their families, who were being held hostage by Baath party thugs.

In phone calls back to colleagues in the States, Michael said that he was surprised by the ferocity of the fighting and that he planned on writing a book about his experiences. It would have been a masterpiece.

As anybody who read his Washington Post column knows, Michael could be a deft humorist, but he also had the sensibility of a tenacious Irish crusader. If anyone offended his moral sensibility, as Bill Clinton did, Mike went after him with uncompromising gusto. He wasn't one to back down from a necessary fight.

If you worked under Mike, you were golden. He treated his writers with gregarious good humor and love. But if you worked over Mike, you had to watch out. When he was editor of the New Republic, he got into a feud with the magazine's owner, Marty Peretz, which ended with his firing. It was a confrontation of two strong men, each confidently holding his ground.

The best newspapermen, of the sort Mike was, are not just dogged reporters and tireless crusaders. They have a hidden literary side. Mike certainly did. He was a mischievous and rambunctious boy, but he also loved to read. As a teenager, he devoured P.G. Wodehouse and Max Beerbohm. He made the most of abundant opportunities to party at the University of New Hampshire. But all the while, he was acquiring a large store of cheap secondhand books, and reading them.

His high-toned literary side came to the fore when he was asked by David Bradley to become editor of the Atlantic Monthly. People who didn't understand Michael were worried that this streetwise, cut and thrust columnist would degrade the venerable magazine. Nothing of the sort. Michael revived the magazine and took it to new heights, making it subtle and literary but also feisty and energetic. Circulation soared. National Magazine Awards rolled in. Brilliant essays by Mark Bowden, William Langewiesche, Christopher Hitchens, and P.J. O'Rourke studded its pages.

Mike never wrote for THE WEEKLY STANDARD, but he knew many of us well and a few intimately. And while he was editor of the New Republic, he did pitch against us during our annual softball game. He wasn't exactly the best pitcher in the world. His style could be best described as energetic and amusing. But, as he did not fail to remind us later, his team won that day.

When we think back on his remarkable life, we think first of endearing moments like that game. We think of his capacity for personal organization, which was non-existent. He had a great talent for losing credit cards. When he left the staff of the New York Times he found he had tens of thousands of dollars of expense account receipts he had never turned in.

We think, sadly and prayerfully, of his wife, Max, and their two young boys, and of his parents and his siblings, who are at the heart of a warm and glowing community on Capitol Hill. And we think finally of his enormous contributions to his profession and to his country, as someone who sought out the truth, who fought for just causes, and who never backed down. He was everything a newspaperman should be, and everything the rest of us should aspire to.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: davidbrooks; michaelkelly; tribute; warcorrespondents

1 posted on 04/05/2003 7:06:36 AM PST by Pokey78
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
don't know if anyone else here saw it, but cspan2 just ran their 1993 interview with michael kelly, done when his book on the gulf war came out. from it one could easily discern not only why he will be missed as a reporter, but also why his colleagues are so anguished by his passing.

dep

2 posted on 04/05/2003 7:10:18 AM PST by dep (baghdad before hdad bags us!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
(snip)
He was fired as editor of The New Republic because he relentlessly criticized the corruption of the Clinton/Gore administration. And in February 1998, at the height of the Lewinsky scandal, he wrote, for the Washington Post, the best column to come out of those years. "I believe the president," Kelly began:

I have always believed him. I believed him when he said he had never been drafted in the Vietnam War and I believed him when he said he had forgotten to mention that he had been drafted in the Vietnam War. I believed him when he said he hadn't had sex with Gennifer Flowers and I believe him now, when he reportedly says he did.

I believe the president did not rent out the Lincoln Bedroom, did not sell access to himself and the vice president to hundreds of well-heeled special pleaders and did not supervise the largest, most systematic money-laundering operation in campaign finance history, collecting more than $ 3 million in illegal and improper donations. I believe that Charlie Trie and James Riady were motivated by nothing but patriotism for their adopted country....

I believe Paula Jones is a cheap tramp who was asking for it. I believe Kathleen Willey is a cheap tramp who was asking for it. I believe Monica Lewinsky is a cheap tramp who was asking for it.

I believe Lewinsky was fantasizing in her 20 hours of taped conversation in which she reportedly detailed her sexual relationship with the president and begged Linda Tripp to join her in lying about the relationship. I believe that any gifts, correspondence, telephone calls and the 37 post-employment White House visits that may have passed between Lewinsky and the president are evidence only of a platonic relationship; such innocent intimate friendships are quite common between middle-aged married men and young single women, and also between presidents of the United States and White House interns.

In 774 words, Kelly simply destroyed the hopes of all those who had wanted to believe Bill Clinton. It was not the kind of thing that would make a writer popular at The New Yorker or the New York Times magazine. But Kelly wrote it, and kept writing.

http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york040403.asp

3 posted on 04/05/2003 7:18:15 AM PST by Valin (Age and deceit beat youth and skill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Valin
Or how about this one....
Sept 25, 2002 on a speech by former VP Gore:

Gore's speech was one no minimally decent politician could have delivered. It was entirely dishonest, cheap, low. It was utterly hollow. It was bereft of policy, of solutions, of constructive ideas, very nearly of facts - bereft of anything other than taunts and jibes and embarassingly obvious lies. It was breathtakingly hypocritical, a naked political assault delivered in smarmy tones of moral condescension from a man pretending to be superior to mere politics. It was wretched. It was vile. It was contemptible. But I understate.
4 posted on 04/05/2003 7:30:16 AM PST by Rummyfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
Gonna miss this guy (Michael Kelly) a lot!
5 posted on 04/05/2003 7:30:42 AM PST by Rummyfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
here is a post from Demonrat Underworld on mr kelley's passing

I'm sorry, but I will not shed any tears for this Clinton-Gore hating monster.
HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED
6 posted on 04/05/2003 7:34:01 AM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Across the Euphrates

RIP, Michael.

7 posted on 04/05/2003 7:37:06 AM PST by dread78645
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TheRedSoxWinThePennant
Why bother with those hateful dimwits? On the plus side, it is the mentality that is causing fair-minded people to flee from the Democratic party.
8 posted on 04/05/2003 7:40:14 AM PST by Always Right
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Always Right
On the plus side, it is the mentality that is causing fair-minded people to flee from the Democratic party.

that was kinda of the point I was making these people are coming out of the closet and its the best news for the republican party since reagan. I just always find it funny when the party of "tolerance" shows its true colors
9 posted on 04/05/2003 7:42:56 AM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
bump.

I cannot find the words to adequately express my sorrow.

I'm sure Mr. Kelly would have been able to, however.

Rest in Peace... you will be deeply missed.
10 posted on 04/05/2003 8:01:48 AM PST by proud American in Canada ("We are a peaceful people. Yet we are not a fragile people.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
This is from his classic "Old, Old. Old, Tired, Tired, Tired", " We are now entered into a serious time, a time of protracted conflict. To some degree, we will be engaged in this alone; certainly in the sense that leader is alone. And we must lead. No one else has the capacity to direct what will become a fluid and shifting alliance between the nations that wish to promote democracy, trade and order arrayed against the nations and extranational forces that wish to promote fascism, gangsterism and smash-and-grab anarchy. We have a president who seems to understand this,which is helpful. We have a people who seem to understand it too, which is essential."
From around Memorial Day, 2002. Prophetic, no?
Recently I got into an email exchange with him about his cavalier willingness to shovel billions into Africa in the way of humanitarian aid. I was adamant about requiring some surety that the money got where it was meant to go without being sidetracked into some potentate's pockets. Mr. Kelly possessed an idealism that I didn't think matched up with the facts as they exist on the continent of Africa. And, frankly, I don't think that he understood properly the human cost of taxation.
But damn, he could write.
11 posted on 04/05/2003 8:07:20 AM PST by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
I don't think I ever read any of his work but as one viewing the war from a long and safe distance . . . I believe the courage of MOST of the embedded reporters is a miraculous thing. Just imagine . . . one day you're sitting on your tush writing articles you know most people will never read in the safe and air-conditioned confines of a New York office AND the very next day death and destruction and sand and heat and exhaustion and all the other horrors inherent in war are all around you.

While some say they're not heroes, I disagree. Others can argue as to the degree of hero when compared to the "full-time" warriors, I'll only say that anyone who "willingly" leaves the confines of a safe and secure office to report real-time war to the American public and the world deserve special prayers and a healthy dose of respect.

I salute you, Mr. Kelly. You met your Maker a hero and my prayers are with you and your family and friends.

12 posted on 04/05/2003 8:33:33 AM PST by geedee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thegreatbeast
To some degree, we will be engaged in this alone; certainly in the sense that leader is alone. And we must lead... We have a people who seem to understand it too, which is essential.

Very prophetic. An amazing stat this AM from the L.A. Times (as reported on MSNBC), of all places: 80% of Americans supporting the war believe the war was necessary, even if no WMD are found in Iraq.

Rest in peace, Mr. Kelly, you have done your part. You will be missed.

13 posted on 04/05/2003 8:39:41 AM PST by browardchad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: browardchad
Man, I tell you Wednesday morning was Mike Kelly time for me. That was the first thing I read every Wednesday and I looked forward to it. He will be missed, just like all the brave Americans and British soldiers and (yes) even journalists.
14 posted on 04/05/2003 8:49:10 AM PST by pchuck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: TheRedSoxWinThePennant
I've written a somewhat nasty poem about Rachel Corrie (the girl who got herself run over by an Israeli bulldozer), but had felt slightly guilty about its tone. Reading the DU comments on Kelly let me shed that guilt.

I doubt I will ever again feel any moral compunction about quietly celebrating the death of someone I despise.

15 posted on 04/05/2003 9:32:01 AM PST by Celtjew Libertarian (No more will we pretend that our desire/For liberty is number-cold and has no fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
Yes, I will miss him. He wrote so many of those columns that just 'zing' the other side with the power of truth and reason.

God rest his soul
16 posted on 04/05/2003 10:27:06 AM PST by WOSG (Liberate Iraq! God Bless our Troops!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
I literally dropped the pan of lasagna I was making when this came over the TV. I am heartbroken. He was a brilliant guy, incredibly incisive, a great writer, and not a little bit devilishly sardonic/sarcastic - which I love. I feel like I've lost a friend. And I don't even want to think about deleting his column from my bookmarked/favorite places list.This one really hurts.All I can say, is I hope Mark Steyn's wife doesn't let him out of the house without full-body armor. We need these guys. Really.
17 posted on 04/05/2003 10:56:06 AM PST by leilani
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
And who can forget this summary of XXX42:
What comes across as the most important source of Clinton's uniqueness as president is the nearly unbelievable degree of his essential unfitness to be president -- his profound immaturity, his pathological selfishness, his cynicism, above all his relentless corruption.

18 posted on 04/05/2003 1:10:42 PM PST by steve-b
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson