Reflections on the death of Toni Morrison.

In 1991 I was assigned by a then Vancouver business magazine called Equity to photograph their Power Elite. This involved taking portraits of the people the magazine considered to be important in the making of decisions in our city. One of them was The Vancouver Province’s editor Patricia Graham.

Today upon reading of the death of Toni Morrison I told Rosemary, “I have no idea who the editor of the Vancouver Sun is.” I looked it up. It was Harold Munro. I was able to find out quickly because the Vancouver Sun has a masthead. I doubt if anybody under 30 knows what that is.

Fewer would notice that both the Georgia Straight and People Magazine no longer have mastheads. Who are their editors? Are they relevant (the editors, the mastheads)?

Then I told Rosemary, “At one time in Vancouver newspaper editors were not only important but they were also role models. Consider that I photographed Patricia Graham holding a Toni Morrison novel.”

I was wrong. 

The novel is by Alice Walker.  A cynical person would probably say, “Alex you at least got it partly right as Alice Walker is black.”

I can only admit that old age has dulled what I thought was my good memory. But I do remember enough that I was struck by Graham’s intelligence and humanity.

What do Vancouver newspaper editors do these days? Are they relevant?