Ruthell Howard
I hired Ruthell Howard straight out of college when I was editor of a feisty black weekly, the Winston-Salem Chronicle.
She was short and spunky and full of a joy for life and work and friends. She covered everything from school board to City Hall to the sheriif's department.
And she interviewed everyone from mayors to funeral home directors.No matter how big or small the story, I could always count on her. Her energy was boundless.
We as a staff loved going to the Coliseum Kitchen for breakfast after working killer shifts on late Wednesday nights and (I'm not exaggerating) Ruthell never was happy with the quality of her food.
We'd kid her about being so fincky but she was serious. Her meal was too hot or too cold or too salty or hard or too soft or too dry or too runny, but never ever right.
Those were among the few times we ever saw her close to mad. But for some reason I don't we all kept going back to that same restaurant where the rest of us were typically satisfied with our meals even as Ruthell steamed.
The Coliseun Kitchen notwithstanding, Ruthell was one of the most selfless, giving people I ever knew, with an endearing innocence and an unwavering belief in everyone's capacity for good.
In time, shel moved on to the Carolina Peacemaker and then the News & Record.
Next she caught on with some little operation up north called The Washington Post, where she worked on the copy desk and impressed her bosses with her skills and enthusiasm.
I would see her occasionally at conventions and hug her and reminisce about our high-stress, low-pay glory days in Winston.
In those days, I was young and driven with high aspirations and rough edges. As a 26-year-old manager, I wasn't always the best boss in those days ... impatient and demanding and not well versed in the art of tact. But Ruthell forgave me anyway. She preferred to remember me for the good times we had and the spirit that drove the little paper that could to all kinds of state and national awards.
Ask my other colleagues: James Parker, Robin Adams, David Bulla. Ruthell was as special and as unique and as memorable as her name (she had twin borther named Ralphell).
Now she's gone.
This came in today's email from The Post:
Ruthell Howard, 50; Longtime Post Copy EditorTuesday, October 23, 2007;
Ruthell Howard, 50, a copy editor for The Washington Post for more than 15 years, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Oct. 21 at Menorah Home and Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ms. Howard, a former resident of Arlington County, had been in a nursing home since she suffered complications after minor surgery in March 2005.
She was known as an "extremely conscientious" editor who was often the last person to leave in the early hours of the morning, after the paper was on the printing presses, said a former supervisor, Marcia Kramer.
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.
She worked on the copy desk for the Metro section and for the old Weeklies sections and often was in charge of nightly operations on the desk.
"She was just a little fireplug," said her friend Sharon Scott, the editor of the National Weekly edition of The Post. "She was tenacious, her sense of outrage at injustices in the world. She had this almost extraordinary capacity to empathize with other people. . . . She was one of the kindest, most selfless people you would ever meet."
Ms. Howard organized a semiannual newsroom-wide bake sale to raise money for Children's Hospital and Send a Kid to Camp. Her sweet potato pie was legendary, and she often made extra pies for people who promised additional donations.
She also liked to play the lottery. "Whenever the lottery amount would get into the gazillions, she would organize a desk ticket, collect a dollar and go out and buy the ticket," Kramer said. "I always warned her, at least finish a shift if you win."
When actor Denzel Washington, in the city while filming "The Pelican Brief," dropped by The Post's newsroom to ask questions about the news business, Ms. Howard maneuvered to shake his hand. "She was so impressed when he asked her to repeat her name when she introduced herself to him," Scott said. "That so impressed her that he took the time to ask about her unusual name."
In March 2005, she worked until midnight the day before she had surgery and planned to be back at the desk the next day, but complications set in, and she never returned to work.
She was born in Engelhard, N.C., and graduated from North Carolina Central University. She worked as a reporter for the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Chronicle. In 1984, she joined the Carolina Peacemaker newspaper as a reporter and in 1986 became a copy editor for the Greensboro, N.C., News and Record. She joined The Post in February 1990.
Ms. Howard also did freelance editing for Crisis magazine and taught a weekend journalism class for non-journalism majors at Howard University.
She was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Arlington.
Survivors include her mother, Isa Mae Howard of Engelhard; and three brothers, her twin, Ralphell Howard, Pompey Howard and Willie Archie Howard, all of New York.
-- Patricia Sullivan
I am so happy that our paths crossed as much as they did over the years. And I am so saddened that'll I'll never see her again.
Comments (3)
Allen,
I'm sorry for your loss.
Posted on October 24, 2007 9:15 AM
Thanks, Billy.
She was a special person with a wonderful spirit.
Posted on October 24, 2007 5:56 PM
Thanks for this post, Allen. A nice tribute to your friend, and a nice piece of writing.
Posted on October 24, 2007 8:41 PM