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I was shocked and saddened to hear of the death Tuesday of editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette, a Greensboro native whose wit and artistic talent were among the very best in his craft.

Doug won a Pulitizer Prize for his work, which was edgy but funny, and could slice and dice power brokers of all political stripes with equal zest.

But if you're a News & Record reader, you probably already know all that. Marlette's cartoons have been featured regularly on our pages for years.

What you may not know is that, only a few years ago, Doug almost became a staff cartoonist for the News & Record.

Doug, who is nationally syndicated, was looking for a new "home" newspaper. At the time he was living in Hillsborough and teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was interested in the News & Record and we were interested in him.

I remember taking him to lunch at Southern Lights and how both of us of smiled at the possibilities. Doug wanted to stay in North Carolina rather than move to a paper out of state. What better place to work than his hometown paper?

The prospects of Marlette, the Pulitzer Prize winner, also appealed to Van King, then the publisher of the News & Record.

I remember sitting in Van's office one Friday evening, and both of us repeating aloud the words that would adorn all of his nationally distributed cartoons, from one coast to the other, "Doug Marlette, News & Record."

Cool.

Problem was, the local economy was just beginning to go south. We couldn't make the numbers work. It frustrated us like to hell to admit it, but it wasn't going to happen.

So we daydreamed a little while longer. Then let the dream go.

Doug remained a good acquaintance. I'd call him occasionally for his insights on editorial cartooning.

He moved on to stints with the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida and, at the time of his death, at only age 57, the Tulsa (Okla.) World.

I still think about what might have been. I thought it about it Tuesday.

What you may not know is that