News-Record.com

Ruthell Howard, who worked as a copy editor here in the late 80s, died Sunday of cardiopulmonary arrest.

She left us in 1990 to work on the copy desk of the Washington Post.

I didn't know Ruthell well -- I think she worked with Allen at the Winston-Salem Chronicle -- but I remember her as a tenacious copy editor and a gentle soul.

The Post's obituary confirms that: In the sometimes-anonymous copy desk position, which requires mediation between strong-willed reporters attached to their words and readers who demand accuracy, clarity and context, she was known as a polite but meticulous editor, her colleagues said.

Update: Allen's remembrance.