If Only He Could, What Would He Say?

Remember the journalist Jay Jefferson Cooke?

I miss this guy.  Very much.

I wonder how he would opine about all the politically-related shenanigans and the mendacity swirling about us in the Public Square today?

What I liked best about Jay was the unvarnished personal authenticity that characterized his writing style.

  

For years before his passing away in 2017, Jay grew and prospered as a journalist with prestigious news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal and others, culminating in a 26-year career with the Gannett family of newspapers – most notably the Courier News in Somerset County, New Jersey, where, for 10 years, he penned one of my favorite columns, Color in Black and White.

He was a lay-it-all-out kind of writer, one who unabashedly did not suffer fools easily. 

 

Jay could be very controversial with his opinions.  As a result, some of the comments sent to his electronic mailbox were anonymous – a spineless practice.

Nonetheless, he had just as many, if not more stalwart admirers.

Human authenticity may be hard to clearly put into words, but one can easily recognize that trait in another when, as in the personality of Jay Jefferson Cooke, one saw it playing out in his writing.

His columns were richly filled with energy, always a good read.