In memoriam

I keep this picture on a bookshelf behind my desk. Taken at the '92 Republican National Convention in Houston, it shows Ed Bradley, the CBS newsman who died this week, and Steve Friedman, a Houston Post reporter when the photo was taken who later died while still in his 30s, after he had left journalism and became a lawyer.

Friedman was a close friend.

I don't know the story behind the photo. Don't know what exactly they were laughing at. But there's a lady on a holding a Dan Quayle sign to the right of them, and I would not be surprised if it had something to do with that. Maybe not, though.

The last 60 Minutes story that Ed Bradley did was down here, over in Texas City, concerning the British Petroleum refinery explosion that killed 15, as this NY Times story relates.

Friedman was a great guy. Charmingly neurotic, a little like George Costanza on Seinfeld, with an uncanny ability to attract beautful women, even though his friends were quick to remind him he looked like Harpo Marx. Smart as a whip, too.

Bradley, by all accounts, was a pretty cool guy, too. Among the close friends who hurried to his bedside as he neared the end was the musician Jimmy Buffett.