Lary Bloom
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Thursday, April 06, 2006
The Blue Blood Bluegrass Blues
Barry Bingham Jr. died earlier this week. Unless you live in Louisville, you may not have noted his passing, or recall his soft voice and enormous handlebar mustache. But if you are an Honorary Kentucky Colonel, you know very well that Barry Bingham Jr. and the Bingham family made big news among the bluegrass set.Bingham, like his father before him, was publisher of the Louisville Courier Journal, once considered among the finest American newspapers -- in particular in the way it aggressively reported bias and bigotry in a state that was never known to be progressive except in the way it marketed its bourbon and racing industries.
Every spring, around Kentucky Derby time, I visited Louisville to attend a magazine conference, and Bingham Jr. held forth, hosting a reception and handing out awards. We always had the impression that the Bingham family, including the old man, Barry Senior, was genteel Southern, and in a sense we were in awe of them. Courteous, smart, with the community's welfare at heart. Until it all fell apart. Until brother and sisters started suing each other, and battling over control of their newspaper.
The height of the mess coincided with an annual conference. As usual, we gathered on Saturday night at River Club (hard by the Ohio). The bourbon flowed and the band played the "Tennessee Waltz." That's when Barry Bingham Sr., whom I barely knew, pulled me aside. With the hand that was holding a glass of Kentucky's best, he gestured toward his son, who was talking to an editor from Chicago. Senior said to me, "Barry's such a fool. I can't believe what my children have done."
When I saw the obit in the New York Times, I thought of that moment -- instead of the enormous achievements of a courageous newspaper.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 5:46 AM
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