Man's head explodes

Well, not really. But Gene Ediger, who died 10 years ago today, would have loved such a headline. So, Geno, this one's for you. Pablo misses you.

Chuck Currie has the details.

Comments

[Worldwide Pablo]

Read more about Gene here or here.

[Lin]

It's hard to believe ten years have gone by, and ten years and a bit since Gene and WWP last dined with us in Seattle. A cocktail will be lifted this evening to a friend we knew too briefly.

[Susan Buce]

Precious are my memories of huddling over a light table with Geno and WWP, x-acto knife in one hand and rubber cement in the other as we hand-carved our way through the copy and clip art of the "Hobo News." Gene swore he'd seen the headline "Man's Head Explodes" in an issue of National Enquirer and was adamant that we could surely find a place for that headline in our own 12,000 circulation homeless advocacy rag. I have fond memories of a late-night extravaganza when WWP and I inserted false headlines and cutlines in the upcoming issue, took a photo copy of the joke newsletter, and then, after revising it back to the original, sent it merrily off to press. We presented the faux newsletter to Gene who went pale(er) when he saw pictures of Sen. Ron Wyden labeled "Man's Head Explodes." It hadn't occurred to me to photocopy the real newsletter for his reassurance. We all crossed our fingers in hopes we hadn't inadvertantly missed fixing one of our joke headlines before going to press. Given the fact that our newsletter went out to most of the US Senate and Congress, it was a bit of a risk, but we pulled it off without any public egg on our faces. Sometimes the best practical jokes are the ones that only a few people know about.

I lift a brew to the memory of my assistant editor Gene, and to my beloved friend and co-hort, WWP.