Update: see the error correction (in bold) below.
Attention conservation notice (h/t Cosma Shalizi): This post may well be inside baseball for folks in and around the media game. Make your reading decision accordingly.
I know a lot of people who are both tremendously fortunate and terribly abandoned today. They are the ones who knew well David Carr,who died yesterday.
You can find testimony today to the depth of feeling Carr, the New York Times’ media correspondent, inspired across the mediascape among those who worked with him, knew him, benefited from his kindness and his rigor . Here’s A. O. Scott’s obituary; Anthony De Rosa’s remembrance; Muck Rack’s compilation of tributes; Weigel’s take. I’m sure there’s much more — this is just a semi-random starter kit as it came over the Twitter cascade. Speaking of Twitter, Seth Mnookin’s tweet stream is hard for me to read, only because the loss there is palpable; Ta-Nehisi Coates is as sharp as we’ve all come to expect. And for the man himself, this sampler of quotes is as good a place as any to begin to measure the loss (more here) — but the snap of one liners (or two or three) shouldn’t obscure the work itself. He was a great and meticulous reporter — and, to my eye and ear, a better writer.
I’ve got nothing really to add to the tributes above, and those flowing in from all over the mediascape. I met Carr once, a couple of years ago. Ta-Nehisi was a visiting scholar at MIT then, and Seth was and is my colleague in the science writing program. Carr had hired and molded both of them at critical points in their careers, and they invited him up to give a talk. (Alas, not recorded. Damn.) I was there, and went out for the ritual post-colloquium dinner. Carr was great in both settings. Talking to him at the restaurant, I was struck by what those who knew him much better keep emphasizing: he was a magnificent listener, which helped make him the formidable reporter he was. With old friends he would banter and bust with the best of them. But with those he hadn’t met, like me, he’s peel back layers of conversation ever so gently, utterly implacably — you never felt the probe until it was lodged in your intestines.
My impression of him on that one meeting again tallies with all the actually informed stuff you can read: what a nice man! What a smart one! Tough as shit.
But that was it. One conversation, a pleasant evening and off home in the night. The sense of loss I feel as I write this is wholly disproportionate to that level of acquaintance.
I think I know why. I’ve got a couple of possible reasons. The first is evidenced by the links above: he was simply one of the best working journos around, and for very many on the job he was proof that it was possible to be that kind of a reporter, that good a one. Recall, he was at the Grey Lady, the mothership, the freaking New York Times. Can’t get more establishment than that, and yet Carr was proof that you could be the kind of journalist for whom the story and not the status or the institution or the common “wisdom” was all that mattered. You get the sense reading what Times folks have to say today that they really feel it — that the paper needed Carr as much as or more than the reverse, to keep front and center within the building what it can and should mean to write for the most influential newspaper in the English-speaking world.
The other reason is a bit more personal. In the math wheeze, there is something called an Erdös number. Your Erdös number is determined by how many people stand between you and a co-authored paper with Paul Erdös, a famously collaborative thinker who wrote papers with on the order of 500 colleagues. If you were one of those co-authors your Erdös number was 1. If you didn’t, then you would get the lowest number of any of your co-authors on any paper +1.
Carr was a notoriously tough-but-fair mentor, and there’s something of Erdös in him, in that those he trained carry something of his sense of what it takes to be a reporter and a writer into everything else they do. I have the good fortune to know pretty well two folks with a Carr number of 1 — Seth and Ta-Nehisi, as mentioned above. They are both writers, thinkers and people I admire enormously. I take inspiration from them both. Both of them have Ta-Nehisi told me several times what it meant to have Carr work him over at the Washington City Paper. His body of work and more, the way they approach the craft as I’ve seen it up close bear the marks (block that metaphor!) that Carr left on their hides as they were learning under his unsparing eye. I’m taking notes all the time from those two (and many others, of course) — as I did and do from Carr’s own writing. So I guess in this loose sense I’d claim a Carr number of 2. I can tell you, though, that the difference between 1 and 2 is not one of species or even genera…we’re talking orders at least here.
It’s a sad day. But more, it’s one that’s bereft. Carr left a circle of influence that vastly exceeds his already large circle of friends and fortunate co-workers. The loss reverberates there.
Image: Edwaert Colyer, Still Life, c. 1696.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I accidentally shocked my husband with this news yesterday — I hadn’t realized what a big fan of Carr’s work he was.
As I said yesterday, it’s been a bad week to be a journalist in New York.
sharl
Thanks Tom.
RIP, Mr. Carr.
Lee Rudolph
The thing about Erdős is that, mathematically, he really had no taste (not bad taste, just no taste), somewhat spoiling your analogy for me.
SiubhanDuinne
Wow.
Tom, what a gorgeous eulogy. If you can write like this about someone you met once, I can’t imagine what kinds of tributes you might pen for those you know well (for your sake, I hope I don’t have the chance to find out any time soon).
I never met David Carr, and I am certainly feeling bereft today. You articulated why. Thank you.
raven
I am sorry to say I had never heard of him until he died. I’d never heard of “Sully” or “McMegan” either so I guess I’m just deprived.
Wrye
Raven, may I suggest – and for anyone else who needs to get a sense of Carr – you should watch Page One. He owns that documentary. He’s very clearly the soul of the whole operation. Everything you want a journalist to be. So glad I saw it. So damn sad today.
http://www.magpictures.com/pageone/
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@raven:
His book “The Night of the Gun” got rave reviews:
http://tinyurl.com/mm5sof2
It does sound like he was a good guy and a good reporter, unlike McMegan and Sully. The book above is some investigative reporting he did about HIMSELF and an incident that happened while he was a drug addict that did not actually happen the way he thought it had.
raven
OK, now I’m pissed. I watched “The Sweet Spot: Tech Jargon? Ping Us.” Would have been nice if someone had told me about him earlier!
raven
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): The only reason I mentioned them was because I didn’t know who they were either.
Betty Cracker
Great insights and a lovely tribute.
raven
Damn, this hits home “”Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that a guy threw himself under a crosstown bus and lived to tell the tale,” David Carr writes. “Is that a book you’d like to read?”
JPL
The Oscars will not be the same without his insight. Although, I have never met him, I felt that A.O. Scott and David Carr allowed me to watch the Oscars with them. He will be so missed not only for those who met him, but for those of us who were fans.
@raven: I don’t know if you are familiar with The Carpetbagger column, but he started that.
raven
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): The price skyrocketed on Amazon.
raven
@JPL: I’d like to weasel out of it and say “oh yea, that dude” but IU can’t.
raven
Halo of Flies!!!!!
schrodinger's cat
Did he have ongoing health problems? He always did look a bit rundown, whenever I saw him in the videos that NYT put up.
Amir Khalid
@schrodinger’s cat:
Per his NYT obit, he was a cancer survivor and had a history of substance abuse.
raven
@Amir Khalid: He was a junkie.
Kass
Carr brought back faith in the possibilities of good journalism. He embodied the now-almost-obsolete notion that journalism is a calling, not just a job, a fun gig, a path to starf***king,
etc. Carr knew his responsibilities, and could smack at those in his profession that have forgotten theirs. What a loss!
Elizabelle
@Wrye: Yeah, need to see “Page One.” Hope Sundance or Epix airs it soon; they might. Or will order a DVD.
From Washington City Paper, alternative weekly Carr edited from 1995 to 2000. Includes link to some of his work. He mentored Ta-Nehisi Coates. Also Jake Tapper.
One of those gentlemen has gone on to become an exacting writer who explores big issues. The other one has a TV gig.
Current City Paper editor Mike Madden:
raven
So I’ve read in places that he was a junkie but the wiki says it was blow. Which?
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle:
The other is an utterly worthless hack.
Guess which one is which.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: His memoir wrote about crack.
Mike J
@raven: Crack
raven
@Gin & Tonic: A bullet I some how dodged. The reviews remind me of “A Drinking Life” by Pete Hamill. Watching “Sweet Spot” reminds of guys I know from my midwestern roots.
Elizabelle
Aaron Sorkin interviewing David Carr for “Interview” magazine, about the time “Page One” documentary was released.
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est: Yeah, you got me before I expanded the comment.
Even with a great teacher, much depends on the student, no?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@raven:
IIRC, it was both. Ex-junkie/ex-cocaine addict + heavy smoker is very bad for one’s cardiac health.
ETA: Per other people, it was crack. Still, very bad for one’s heart.
raven
This is great
David Carr and A.O. Scott discuss the darker side of celebrity culture and America’s fascination with witnessing an actress’s demise.
raven
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Getting straight at 45 helps.
Elizabelle
The Interview item came up while I was searching for “David Carr – Judith Miller”, because he was there when she was doing her Scooter Libby stenography.
Sadly, Carr let the paper off pretty lightly in this excerpt. Maybe he had more to say in “Page One.”
I disagree with Carr. Their reporting — and Colin Powell’s unfactual presentation — aided greatly in making the case for war.
Even the liberal New York Times.
bemused
I grieve when we lose people like Carr, Bob Simon, Roger Ebert to name a few. We don’t have nearly enough of them.The accolades for people like these are demonstrably different than what so-called news or other media “stars” (I consider them sell-outs) are shown. The deep genuine respect and admiration from all different walks of life people just shines through. Folks like David Gregory, David Brooks and so on will never achieve.
Elizabelle
The blog Longreads, with a few links to profiles of David Carr, and 2 articles he wrote.
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle: Even the greatest teacher in the world sometimes has his abject failures, mostly due to what he has to work with.
TNC: Student who excels, and writes in ways that amaze and cause you to think, if you’re inclined to thinking.
The other guy: worthless careerist hack, ready for a tumbrel ride.
raven
Hmm, that was The Night of the Gun. Even more like Hamill and getting near Zevon. I ordered the book but I may have already read it.
Villago Delenda Est
@bemused: Just remember back to the Russertgasm that took place some 6 and a half or so years ago. Worthless sack of suckup to power shit, and his spawn is no better…if fact, probably worse.
Elizabelle
@schrodinger’s cat:
@Amir Khalid:
Something serious and debilitating was up with his health. His neck was so slender — all right, scrawny — in his later pictures. Look at the neck progression in the 9 photos up with the NYTimes’ major story.
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est: Yeah, the Russertgasm was a prime example. And what Mark Leibovich used to hang his “This Town” book about the Washington press corpse on.
I could never get into that book. Might be well written, but such a revolting topic.
Was funny; I had to wait so long for my turn with a library copy (DC suburb, plus I refused to spend money on the thing), and once the book arrived, I was sickened at spending the time to read it. Now you find copies all over at library sales.
raven
@Elizabelle: Yea the Times video about the gun was 2008 and he looked way better.
Elizabelle
Re Erdos numbers: do you think Cole would allow anyone here to even claim one for him?
I see him restricting Erdos numbers to those he knows in meatspace, the town and fraternity, and creatures with four feet. The rest of us get to start at number 67.
bemused
@Villago Delenda Est:
I can’t believe I forgot Russert because he’s a perfect example. The fawning accolades were nauseating and it was generated from the village mutual admiration society. They lionize their own.
aimai
Beautiful tribute, Tom.
Violet
Lovely piece, Tom. I was always pleased to see Carr’s name on a piece. Such a good writer. RIP.
debbie
I just listened to a replay of an interview Carr gave to NPR’s Robin Young.
She was grilling him about his low point when he left his 8-month-old daughters in the car on a winter’s night to go get drugs. Young was shockingly judgmental and didn’t feel the least bit shy about showing it.
What’s happened to journalism? Old school vs. new school, and the new one is horribly lacking.
Ruckus
Carr left a circle of influence that vastly exceeds his already large circle of friends and fortunate co-workers.
How many of us would be pleased beyond belief to have one tenth of one percent of the positive influence of this man?
Keith G
@debbie: He put his small children in real jeopardy. That deserved tough questions.
debbie
@Keith G:
Questions, yes. Judgment, no.
raven
@Keith G: Goddam right it did. When I watched that interview with him about “The Gun” and he realized he was so fucked up that he didn’t even know he had one, much less pointed it at his buddy, I thought “I’m glad he got straight but that doesn’t excuse that shit”.
raven
@Ruckus: Zevon had a positive influence on lots of people too and he made it clear to his wife that he wanted his real story told in his bio. Maybe if people see someone they respect for what they really were it can help them make better decisions.
trollhattan
TBogg on Carr.
raven
David Carr’s final truth about addiction: You never really beat it
Tree With Water
“The sense of loss I feel as I write this is wholly disproportionate to that level of acquaintance”.
It’s the same reaction with most when an accomplished individual kicks. Although I never met either man, I felt much the same sense of loss the other night when I heard Bob Simon had been killed as I did upon hearing that David Halberstam had died (both in car accidents, too). In their case, I suppose it boiled down to losing two people whose judgement I respected. Simon was one of the very few broadcast journalists I would still pay attention to when he popped up on my screen. Indeed, had there been more journalists like him, I would not have tuned out broadcast news twenty-some years ago as being (at best) irrelevant (where keeping informed about anything worthwhile was concerned).
raven
“David Carr now finds himself a "genuine, often pleasant person. I am able to imitate a human being for long spurts of time, do solid work for a reputable organization, and have, over the breadth of time, proven to be a loving and attentive father and husband."
For all that, he says, "I now inhabit a life I don't deserve.”
Ruckus
@raven:
Absolutely
On the gun thing and kids issue, here’s a man whose work is greatly appreciated and respected who has opened himself up to questions and judgements about his addictions, in what seems to be a hope that others can learn from his mistakes. He seemingly makes no bones about having screwed up nor does he seem to be asking for forgiveness. That’s a pretty good thing in my book. We’ve all made mistakes, some much worse than others, that’s the nature of things. That he and we learned from them and grew from them is the point.
Ruckus
I’m undefined now?
I guess that’s good to know. I always thought asshole so undefined is a step up.
Mark
Carr was the classic pious born-again hypocrite moralizer.