Monday, October 22, 2007

Reader is right on Kerr

A reader made a valid point over the weekend, criticizing our placement of two feature celebrity obituaries in Friday's Herald. The notice of actress Deborah Kerr's death appeared as a brief on 2A, while the notice for comedian Joey Bishop received a full story on 3A.

Poor news judgment on Kerr? I agree with the caller. Kerr was a remarkable actress, with numerous Academy Award nominations for some very memorable roles. Her beach scene with Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity'' is one of the classic scenes in cinematic history. My personal favorite was her performance opposite Cary Grant in the tear-jerking "An Affair to Remember.''

We treated Kerr and Bishop equally in 1A teasers acknowledging their passing, then dropped the ball inside. Kerr deserved a full-length obit — which she receives belatedly here
on Bradenton.com:

No excuses. We need to do better on these judgment calls in our print editions.

Jim

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