First his blog, now his column

The Los Angeles Times announced today it is discontinuing the business column written by Michael Hiltzik. After serving a suspension, Hiltzik will be reassigned to another beat. This news comes on the heels of the revelation that Hiltzik was posting comments to his blog and those of others using pseudonyms, which violates the paper's ethics policy.

Librarian intercepts pervert

I've been quiet the past few days while I've been dealing with a cold that has, as all my colds seem to do, turned into an annoying hacking cough.

Thanks to Cyberspastic for sending me the following news item out of Ohio.

A school librarian at (I kid you not) Mt. Healthy High School foiled a pervert's plot to meet up with a teen for sex after the two communicated online.

On Monday the pervert sent an instant message to the teen asking her to meet him. The message was seen on a school computer by the librarian, who called police. The cops were waiting for 24-year-old Peter Fossett, who's from Kentucky, when he showed up at the designated location where he and the teen were to meet.

Librarian 1, Pervert 0

A Columnist and a Blogger -- an interesting update

Earlier this week I posted about Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik, who also maintains a blog, Golden State, on the paper's Web site.

Well, at least he did maintain a blog until yesterday, when the Times suspended it after it was learned that Hiltzik had been posting comments to his blog and other Web sites using a pseudonym. That action violates the paper's ethics policy, which requires journalists to honestly represent themselves when dealing with the public.

Not suprisingly, when contacted for comment, Hiltzik said he wasn't able to do that.

I was impressed with the interview Hiltzik gave to Online Journalism Review and mentioned the article to several of my colleagues. I won't speak for them, but I was both disappointed and a bit stunned by the announcement. An article in today's The Washington Post gives more details.

My first blogiversary

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I started this blog. I have to admit that I'm quite proud of myself for sticking with it this time and finding a niche for myself discussing the issues closest to my heart: librarianship, journalism and the ways in which they intersect. Several of my initial posts were quite lame, with musings on the results of fun quizzes I took and "take pity on me" entries where I went on and on about being dumped by an ex who I'm better off and much happier without. My promise for the next year is this: no more dirty laundry will inhabit this blog.

I have also questioned the name I chose for the blog since in actuality, it contains very little information about me. This was the name I chose for my first blog, which was set up for me and my classmates as part of a blogging course we took in library school. That blog died when our instructor's server crashed, but the name stuck. I guess it has grown on me as well, because "All Things Amy" is what it will remain.

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog and I hope you'll continue to follow it throughout the next year.

There's another blogiversary I want to make note of, that of my good friend and mentor j. How ironic is it that we share this date? Happy third blogiversary j!!

Journalists must "blog, or else"

Poynter's E-Media Tidbits reports that this was the message that was delivered by Google's European Vice President Nikesh Arora in an interview last week with British newspaper the Press Gazette.

"People who are really knowledgeable, who can weigh both sides of an issue, who can write intelligently, are turning out to be the better bloggers. A lot of journalists carry the respect and loyalty of the readers, and the need to make sure they keep that community when they go online," Arora says.

Arora also cited two instances where newspapers can create "unique selling points" for themselves. The first is in the area of local news, which isn't as prevalent online and the other area to explore is creating better uses for online news archives. "There is a hidden gold mine in the archives, and newspapers need to intelligently link their archives to their online presence."

Mike Luckovich on NPR

On Monday, Mike Luckovich, editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, won his second Pulitzer Prize. Today, he speaks with "Fresh Air" guest host Dave Davies on NPR.

Luckovich has his own blog where he posts his cartoons and asks readers to vote as to whether or not they care for it. They can also post comments and share their thoughts about Luckovich's work.

I glanced at the number of comments left on the blog and the numbers are impressive, which is exactly what Luckovich wants, for his work to cause people to think and elicit their opinions, regardless of whether or not they agree with the message he is trying to convey through his work.

The thrill of being first doesn't last

So says Gwen Ifill, the moderator of PBS' "Washington Week," in an article in today's The Philadelpia Inquirer.

When Ifill was given the moderator's job in 1999, she was the first woman and person of color to hold the position and while she admits she was "happy to break down barriers and be a role model, ... I don't want that to be the only thing people talk about. At some point, you have to move past it." Ifill addressed her situation in light of the recent announcement that Katie Couric will become the first woman to anchor an evening newscast this fall.

Ms. Ifill will be presenting the keynote address at the Opening General Session of the Special Libraries Association's annual conference in Baltimore in June.

* Source: Romenesko

Is a book in Jill Carroll's future?

That's what various literary agents are saying. Those sentiments are echoed by Jay Jostyn, communications manager for Jill's employer, The Christian Science Monitor. "There’s a great deal of interest in her story, from both media and literary agents," Jostyn says, adding that for the moment, Jill isn't granting any interviews and is instead spending time with her family and trying to recover from her ordeal. At some point in the near future, Jill will be telling her story to The Monitor in either a first-person account or in a story written by another of the paper's reporters. The piece may be a single story or a series that will run over the course of several days. And as for the inquiries, Jostyn is passing them along to Jill and her family.

An article in The New York Observer takes a close look at the people who make their living trying to get newsmakers to sign book and movie deals, including the approaches they use and the subjects they wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

As far as Jill writing a book, and I don't mean this at all as a criticism, I think it will happen sooner rather than later.

* Source: Romenesko

Denver Post newsroom cuts

An article in today's Denver Post reports that the newspaper will be eliminating about 8 percent of its newsroom staff or roughly 25 of its 300 positions.

There are no layoff plans, rather early retirement and voluntary-separation packages are being offered, with payouts determined by the length of employment.

As it has been with many newsrooms, the rising cost of newsprint and declining readership have caused papers to reexamine their resources and look for ways to cut costs. According to Post editor Gregory L. Moore, "The failure of the economy to bounce back for newspapers now forces us to make some of the same choices."

Tony Mulligan, the administrative officer of the Denver Newspaper Guild, which represents many of the Post newsroom's employees, reacted to the news by saying "I don't believe that the newsroom is overstaffed. It concerns me to see job reductions. Everybody is already busy."

However, Mulligan added that the severance packages being offered either "meet or exceed union requirements" and as such, will not be disputed.

* Source: Romenesko

Blogsphere is alive and well

CyberJournalist.net points to Technorati founder David Sifry's latest report on the State of the Blogsphere. Among the findings:

* The number of new blogs continues to grow. "On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day."

* 55% of bloggers are still posting away three months after starting their blogs.

* "3.9 million bloggers update their blogs at least weekly."

* The amount of daily posting, according to tracking figures from Technorati, indicates
that over 1.2 million posts are made each day, which translates to 50,000 posts an hour.

* The amount of posting tends to increase during major news events.

Earlier reports, from October 2004, March 2005, August 2005 and February 2006, are also available for purposes of comparison.

PBS weighing online programming

Paula Kerger, president and chief executive officer of the Public Broadcasting Service, is considering making programming available online or in more portable forms, such as making shows available for download to MP3 players.

The station is also considering partnerships such as the one the Walt Disney Company has with Apple where programs from the ABC television network are being sold on iTunes for downloading to iPods.

At a lunch on Monday, Kerger said that her "goal in running PBS is that no matter what choice consumers in the digital age decide to do ... we recognize the need to make content available to any of those platforms, and right now we're moving in that direction."

Thanks to Lost Remote for the link.

Five areas where newspapers can improve

CyberJournalist.net points to this article by Curt Chandler, the editor for online innovation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Bill Ostendorf, president of Creative Circle, who offer five suggestions of what newspapers can do within their newsrooms and to their online products that will reflect equally well on the print product.

* Continuous development of different versions of stories throughout the day. This allows for quicker online updates that will enable the next day's paper to delve deeper into a topic or look at it from a different angle.

* "Cover life, not just news." There is so much going on in our respective communities that isn't covered by a daily newspaper. In many of the articles and blog posts I've read and the discussions I've had with people, the consensus is that they want more local news and items covering the unique things about their community in their paper.

* Newsroom resources are at a minimum and that means there needs to be a focus on the things that can be done "really well." This includes covering the "big story of the day better than anyone else. If we could focus our resources to make sure each of our section fronts had one must read story combined with a strong visual and some breakouts from teams like this, our papers would actually be better, even with the mindless cutbacks that have become an industry standard."

* Constant updating and adding of fresh content to the Web site. Let go of the mentality that "until we publish something in ink, it hasn't happened." No one wants to read a front page headline about an event that happened 24 hours ago.

* Be more visual online and in print. With the increasing cost of newsprint, the tendency has been to go with smaller photos, but what we should be doing is the exact opposite. "In every other part of our lives, all the images are getting bigger. And people are paying more to get them. A big TV used to be 24." Now it's 50" or 60" or more. Computer screens have moved from 12" to 20." Standard photo prints evolved from wallet size to 4"x 6." Going against major consumer trends is very dumb. Bigger pictures grab readers, increase the readership of stories, communicate quickly and sell newspapers."

Well said.

A Columnist and a Blogger

Los Angeles Times business columnist and blogger Michael Hiltzik speaks to Online Journalism Review about how he got started blogging, what he will put in his column versus what he writes in his blog and the demands that writing a column while maintaining a blog place on him.

Star Tribune memo flap continues

The fallout from the internal memo that was distributed to employees of the Minneapolis Star Tribune continues.

If you recall, in a cost-cutting move, papers are no longer made available to employees for free. Instead employees have the option of reading an electronic version or purchasing print copies from vending machines throughout the Tribune building.

In the memo, senior vice president for Circulation Steve Alexander admonished employees who are either taking papers without paying for them or paying for one paper and taking several more. He warned that such actions are theft and employees are risking their jobs by continuing the practice.

After the memo was posted on Romenesko, employees were warned "that the leaker would be found out and dealt with," according to an article in today's The New York Times.

This latest development has confused employees, who are "wondering why a debate over free personal copies of the paper was obscuring the fact that the public was buying the newspaper — and almost any newspaper — less frequently."

"The whole free newspaper-Romenesko leak issue is our version of the gay marriage debate," says Jon Tevlin, a Tribune staff writer. "We're deeply in debt, circulation is falling and profits are down 14 percent this quarter. So let's obsess about something that isn't really very significant."

The author of The New York Times piece, David Carr, suggests that the Tribune's actions have larger implications. "It is one thing to beaver away, building out a digital gallows. Given reader habits and industry trends, that kind of innovation is required. But at some point — perhaps when reporters are denied access to newspapers — publishers are saying something else to their employees and their readers: What you're holding has no value."

More Pulitzer news

Courtesy of NPR.

"All Things Considered:"

"Papers Share 2006 Pulitzer for Katrina Coverage:" An overview of the winners, which included The Times-Picayune of New Orleans for its breaking news coverage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. An award in the category of public service was shared with The Sun Herald of Gulfport, Mississippi.

The award for National Reporting was shared among The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service for their coverage of the bribery scandal that ultimately sent former California Representative Randall "Duke" Cunningham to prison and The New York Times. Times' reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were the first to report late last year that the National Security Agency "has been conducting secret surveillance of American citizens."

"Editorial Cartoonist Luckovich Nets a Pulitzer:" A conversation with Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is Luckovich's second prize; he won the award in 1995.

"Talk of the Nation:"

"Media Pulitzer Winners Describe That Winning Feeling:" Guest host Michel Martin talks to two of last year's winners, Nick Anderson (for editorial cartooning) and Connie Schultz (for commentary).

Anderson is with The Houston Chronicle, but was with The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky when he won the prize. Schultz is a columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.

Where they were when they won

The Pulitzer Prizes, the highest award presented for excellence in journalism, were announced today. In anticipation, an article published yesterday in Editor & Publisher visited with former winners, asking them the question "Where Were You When You Heard You Won a Pulitzer?"

My favorite story comes from Eileen McNamara, a Boston Globe columnist who won the prize in 1997 for Commentary writing:

"I was at the stove, stirring a pot of spaghetti, talking to my husband and three hungry children. The phone rang. The editor of the Globe told me I won. I began to cry. My daughter, Katie, who was 6, asked her dad why mom was crying. 'I think she just won the Pulitzer Prize,' he said. 'What's the Pully Surprise,' she asked. 'Is she going to finish the spaghetti?'" She did, in case you were wondering.

I also saw some photos today from different newsrooms across the country that were celebrating their wins. Some made me smile, like the jubilation that was seen at
The Times-Picayune and The San Diego Union Tribune, while others, like the photo of Rocky Mountain News photographer Todd Heisler comforting Katherine Cathey, who was holding her little boy, Jimmy, made me tear up. Heisler and reporter Jim Sheeler won the Pulitzer for feature writing and photography for their special report, titled "Final Salute," which told the story of the Marines who are responsible for notifying the families of dead soldiers. Katherine's husband, James Cathey, died in Iraq and her story was a featured part of Sheeler and Heisler's winning effort.

You can see a slideshow of the photos Heisler took, but be warned. They are both powerful and heartbreaking.

Gangrey.com

I came across a link to Gangrey.com, whose subtitle is "Prolonging the slow death of newspapers," in one of my feeds today.

Its authors are Ben Montgomery, a reporter with The Tampa Tribune, and other journalists throughout the Tribune's newsroom. In the winter 05-06 issue of the Florida Scholastic Press Association newsletter, the blog is described as follows:

"It features narrative journalism and encourages conversations about the craft of storytelling and its role in American newspapers."

So far I like the thoughts Ben's posts are provoking and the resulting discussions.

Looking to the week ahead: Podcasting

NPR's "Weekend Edition" featured a segment on podcasts and how they are becoming an increasingly popular component of higher education.

On a personal note, this Thursday evening I'll be attending a presentation on podcasting at OCLC in Dublin, Ohio. The event is sponsored by the Central Ohio chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.

Thanks to Cindy for sending me the invite.

Tough questions for The Des Moines Register

Ralph Gross, a longtime resident of Des Moines, Iowa and a regular reader of its daily newspaper, The Des Moines Register, is extremely interested in the news and the way it is covered. For that reason, he became a member of the paper's Reader Advisory Board and quickly began questioning the paper's top editors, asking if they "had a plan in place to reestablish the preeminence of this newspaper." Gross served on the board for two years and maintains he kept getting evasive answers to some of his most pressing questions. Among them, why was there less coverage of local and state issues and investigative reporting? And more importantly, is "the paper's push for profits eroding its quality?"

With his questions unanswered and his frustration growing, Gross wrote an op-ed piece in which he expressed his views. The paper refused to run it. It instead appeared in a fall 2005 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review.

The story was covered on yesterday's "Morning Edition" on NPR and the segment not only features Ralph Gross, but discusses the changes that have occurred since The Register's sale to Gannett in 1985 and the ever-present issue of declining newspaper readership.

News & Record redesign

Earlier this year, I spoke of my admiration for John Robinson, the editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, who in my opinion is a visionary in the world of news. Robinson maintains his own blog, The Editor's Log, where he posts his thoughts and solicits feedback from readers about the things they want to see in the paper and answers questions about why an issue was covered in a particular way or at all in its pages.

In a post from today, Robinson speaks about a redesign for the paper, which will debut
in the April 19th issue. The paper's last redesign occurred in 1993 and took an approach similar to USA Today.

The new look is meant to be modern, "to provide more breadth and depth to our report, to give readers meaningful information to help them plan their lives and to produce journalism with impact and consequence." The majority of changes are meant to "improve the content rather than dramatically change the paper's look."

* Addendum 4/16: Robinson offered more details in his Sunday column, which was also posted to his blog.

Think before you e-mail

Commentator Judy Muller offers up examples of why you should think twice before hitting the send button.

Courtesy of NPR's "Morning Edition."

Seniors love to blog too!

Thanks to Ken Leebow for pointing out an article (free registration required) in today's The New York Times on the popularity of blogging among seniors.

The story includes audio of 81-year-old blogger and retired journalist Mort Reichek, whose blog has helped relieve the frustration he felt at not having an outlet to express himself.

Reichek says he has been amazed at the number of people looking at his blog. In fact, it's gotten to the point that he's unable to keep up his correspondence with all the visitors who have commented on his site. He has another slight problem: his wife isn't happy about the amount of time he spends blogging. His response to her is that blogging is "an antidote to senile dementia."
I love that.

You go Mort!

(Another reason I like Mort is that we both have great taste in templates.)

* Addendum: Mort is 81-years-young. I apologize for listing his age incorrectly in my original posting and thank Mort for keeping me on my toes.

Travelers' search engine

Amanda posted about this a while ago, but I was prompted to follow up after seeing this post on the Yahoo! Search blog and after receiving an e-mail from Sara, who used this service successfully and passed the link on to her colleagues.

Yahoo! FareChase is a search engine that searches across various travel Web sites looking for the lowest fare.

I've been procrastinating, but will be using the site soon to plan my trip to Baltimore.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you

Romenesko has posted the text of a message from the internal message board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune admonishing employees who have been taking newspapers from the vending boxes placed throughout the Tribune building without paying for them.

A few weeks ago, the paper began offering employees an electronic copy of the newspaper that is sent via e-mail. There is also the option of purchasing a paper from a vending box or taking advantage of home delivery, which is offered at half price, the cost of which can be deducted automatically from the employee's paycheck.

Apparently, the new system is having problems being accepted, because in the first week of offering the electronic version, "43 percent of the Star Tribunes removed from those racks were not paid for. For the second week the rate was 41 percent," says Steve Alexander, senior vice president for Circulation. "This is called `pilferage' in our business; but put more plainly, it is theft, pure and simple."

Alexander adds that paying for one copy and then taking as many papers as you like is also unacceptable. Employees who do so are risking their jobs and those who see others taking papers are encouraged to confront them. The Tribune's policy on such actions is "zero tolerance."

I Love My Job!

Mimi sent me Dr. Seuss' ode to people who love their jobs. I thought it was funny and appropriate for a beautiful spring day where I was able to sit on my deck and soak up the sunshine. (I was off work today because I worked this past Sunday.)

In any case, I really like my apartment. It's a huge step up from the last place I lived. In addition to the perks of having my own garage for my car, a dishwasher and a washer/dryer right in my unit, I also have a "private" balcony. Not that I'm anti-social, but it's nice to sit on your deck and not have to worry about creepy men staring at you.

The Lost Dr. Seuss Book: I Love My Job

New and improved

My blog has undergone some subtle changes in the last few days.

Courtesy of a suggestion by Cindy, I installed a site meter so I can enjoy seeing how many hits you give me via my blog.

Cyberspastic sent me information about Blogbar, a free search engine bar that will enable you to search for items on my blog by way of Google or Technorati and for items on the Web via a variety of search engines.

Enjoy!

"Ramona" author turns 90

Beverly Cleary, a former children's librarian and the author of the series of books about the precocious Ramona Quimby, turns 90 on Wednesday. Ms. Cleary was interviewed on today's "Weekend Edition" on NPR.

I read many of the Ramona stories when I was a little girl, which is, ahem, many, many years ago. I e-mailed my good friend Em the link to this interview and she replied that she thought Cleary was dead. I must confess, I did as well.

Ramona is celebrating Ms. Cleary's birthday as well by promoting an effort to get people to "Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.). If you're stuck as to what book to choose, Ramona suggests that "If you want something really fun to read on April 12, Beverly Cleary wrote some great books about me!"

NAA annual conference

Jon Fine talks about the things he saw and heard at this year's Newspaper Association of America conference in Chicago.

Caution: Comments may not be as they appear

Last night I was a bit bored and decided to check all my previous posts to read the various comments that were left for me. Well imagine my surprise when two comments appeared to have been posted by my ex. After spending a minute or two thinking about how odd it was to hear from him in this way, my brain began to work again and I thought about the situation logically. The truth is that while I'll never know, my guess is that it wasn't him who posted, but some person trying to, as my good friend Amanda put it, "f*** with you."

The first comment was made anonymously and the second used the initials "SM," which is a nickname he uses. I referenced that in my post because in spite of everything, I wanted to respect his privacy.

The language that was used puzzled me as well. He used the word "facilitated," which seemed out of character for him. I don't mean to imply that he's stupid, because he most certainly is not, it just didn't seem like a word I would hear from him.

Finally, my dumping was "facilitated" through the use of the silent treatment. If someone won't answer an e-mail, why in the world would they post a comment on your blog?

As I said, I'll be left to wonder. The only way I would ever know for sure is if he would post another comment, this time using his real initials or alluding to a trip we took or something else that only he and I would know about.

Better yet, an e-mail or phone call where he would apologize for what he did to me would be better. And no, I don't think that will ever happen either.

Have you hugged a special librarian today?

Why you ask? Because today is International Special Librarians Day!

Of course I know I'm a "special" librarian, but in this context special means something else. A special library is one that falls outside the context of what most people think of when they envision a library, which is generally a public or academic institution. Special librarians work in any type of environment outside that, for example, in a law, health sciences or corporate setting.

So if you run into your favorite special librarian today, wish them well and tell them thanks for all they do.

Kudos to the "Desperate Librarians"

Last fall, shortly after I relocated to central Ohio, I read an article about a group of central Wisconsin librarians who decided to create a unique gift for Craig Lahm, the retiring director of the Kaukauna Public Library. They would have photographs taken and put them all together in a calendar as a gift. They soon realized however that the project would involve a significant cost and instead decided to have a professional calendar made, which they would sell as a way of raising funds for cash-strapped libraries.

Did I mention that the librarians posed naked?

Actually, that's not quite true. All of the six women (there were originally 12 , but six of them bailed after the decision was made to sell the calendar to the masses) were at least partly clothed for the shoot. Books and other props were "strategically" placed to hide the parts that weren't covered. This calendar has to acknowledge the influence of the famous "Calendar Girls," a group of women in Yorkshire, England, who created a charity calendar to honor one member of the group's husband, who died of cancer, and to raise funds for leukemia research. Their story was made into a movie starring the wonderful Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

The "Desperate Librarians" have also branched out, selling additional wares at CafePress.com.

The calendars cost $20, plus $2.50 for shipping and are going toward a great cause. Thanks Laura for sending me a copy!

* Addendum 4/6: After showing the calendar to my colleagues today, I got a great idea about what to submit for my chosen Division's silent auction, to be held during the Special Libraries Association annual conference in Baltimore in June.

Dream job

"Fresh Air" on NPR today featured an interview with Ben Karlin, the executive producer of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and the co-executive producer of "The Colbert Report."

At one point, host Terry Gross asked Karlin if there are staff members whose sole jobs are to watch the various TV news shows with the goal of finding items to be featured on the show and Karlin said yes, that there are such people.

This is sad, but true. This would be my dream job.

* A side note: Ben is a fellow UW alum.

Future of newspapers will be online

The Washington Post ran an article today citing two studies, one from the Newspaper Association of America and the other from Scarborough Research, that both come to the same conclusion: newspapers have to embrace the online world if they want to attract and retain future readers.

"What's next for Jill Carroll?"

"Nothing yet," says The Christian Science Monitor's managing editor Marshall Ingwerson in an E&P article published today. Ingwerson added that there are currently no plans for Jill to tell her story in "any kind of formal way," such as through a first-person account that would run in the paper. Instead, "we are going to let her take the lead when she is ready."

In fact, Ingwerson says the newsrooom was shocked when Carroll and her family made an appearance there yesterday since the assumption was that they wanted to stay quiet and have alone time together.

Carroll was made an employee of The Christian Science Monitor shortly after her kidnapping after the paper consulted her family, who held Jill's power of attorney while she was held captive. The move was made so Jill would be entitled to her salary and benefits during the time she was "away."

Ingwerson made no comment as to what Jill's next assignment would be and if it would involve a return to Iraq, but he did say "she seems awfully resilient, but she would have to suggest it."

The Monitor currently has no staff working in Baghdad, but two correspondents, Dan Murphy and Scott Peterson, who have covered the city in the past, will be returning there at some
point. "It is going to be Scott and Dan," (who will be returing to Baghdad), Ingwerson said, "but I don't have a date yet."

Chester

May 19, 1989 - April 3, 2005

I can't believe it's been a year since I lost you. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you honey. I miss and love you with all my heart and I always will.

Welcome home Jill!

Jill Carroll arrived in Boston today and was reunited with her family. Sometimes a picture says a thousand words, but do let me say that I join with millions of people around the world who are happy and relieved that Jill has been released unharmed and that I hope she gets the time she needs to recover and to reconnect with her family, friends and colleagues. Welcome home Jill!

* Addendum: The Christian Science Monitor has posted a slideshow of photos from Jill's homecoming. They all made me smile, but I confess the one of her and her dad embracing made me tear up.