Connecting - June 14, 2024

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June 14, 2024

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Colleagues,

Good Friday morning on this June 14, 2024,

In the AP world, Hoyt Harwell and the Birmingham bureau were synonymous.

Harwell, who served as correspondent for the state of Alabama from Birmingham for 26 of his 42 years with The Associated Press, died Wednesday at the age of 93.

One of his friends and colleagues, Kendall Weaver, said Harwell was a mentor to him and countless other young AP staffers during his long career.

Are you among the many who Hoyt mentored? If so, and if have a favorite memory to share of working with Hoyt, please send it along.

TOUCHED BY SELSKY STORY: Michael Sniffen - Thanks so much for asking Andrew Selsky to write about his dog, Ringo (in Wednesday’s Connecting). It was a touching and heart-warming piece that really stands out as one of the most affecting pieces I've encountered in years of reading Connecting. Much credit to you for seeking out a non-journalistic piece that expanded the already considerable value of Connecting. I admired his account of his family's relationship with Ringo. It really made my day to read it.

Happy Father's Day on Sunday (and every day, for that matter) for the dads and granddads among us. I hope you're spoiled royally.

Have a great weekend – which for Linda and me includes our 56^th anniversary on Saturday. Be safe, stay healthy, live each day to your fullest.

Paul

Hoyt Harwell, longtime AP Birmingham correspondent, dies at 93

Hoyt Garland Harwell, 93, of Hoover, Alabama, died at home surrounded by family June 12, 2024, after a brief illness.

He was born March 8, 1931, in Jacksonville, FL, and grew up in Mobile. The son of the Rev. and Mrs. H.H. Harwell, Hoyt was the eldest of seven and a graduate of Murphy High School. He lettered in football in high school and at Howard College, from which he graduated in 1953. While at Howard (now Samford University), he was a member of O.D.K. leadership and Trident scholastic honor societies; Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges; and served as editor of the student newspaper.

After college, he began a 42-year career with the Associated Press (AP) and served in several units of the U.S. Army National Guard in Mobile.

He retired from the AP in 1993, having worked in Mobile, Atlanta and Birmingham, where he served 26 years as AP correspondent for the state of Alabama. At his retirement, he had filed more than 500,000 articles for the news service, according to their records.

On Feb. 2, 1988, he helped effect the rescue of a pregnant teacher and 10 elementary school children at Tuscaloosa’s West End Christian School during a 12-hour siege of 60 students and several teachers by an armed kidnapper. The Hoover Rotary Club presented him with its Service Above Self Award for his efforts.

His many honors included Troy State’s Journalist of the Year for the state and in 2022 was named to The 50 Legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. He served on the advisory boards for Samford University, Judson College and the Alabama Baptist newspaper. He has taught journalism at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at Samford University.

Upon Hoyt’s retirement, then-Alabama U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin read into the Congressional Record a commendation for his “long and distinguished career, the hallmarks of which have always been fairness and integrity.”

His articles before and after retirement have appeared in numerous church publications, GRIT magazine and Reader’s Digest, among others. He also appeared in an ESPN documentary about Alabama Football Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. He has written columns for the Mobile Press Register, the Birmingham News, the Shelby County Reporter and Senior Living magazine; and provided Bluff Park community news for the Mountain Mouthpiece for many years.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Jack Upchurch, Mercer Mahon and Harold Bruce Harwell, sisters Eleanor Ann and Marilyn Ruth Harwell; youngest son, James Andrew Harwell; and son-in-law H. Frank Segars, Jr. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Elizabeth Granade Harwell; brother Frank Horace Harwell; children Hoyt Garland Harwell, Jr., and Julia Harwell Segars; daughter-in-law, Kimberly Brandon Harwell; grandchildren Emily Elizabeth Thomas, Tate Sanders Thomas (Allie), Logan Harwell Hanle (Jonathan), McCall Ann Harwell, Brandon Andrew Harwell, Harper Wood Harwell and Eleanor Jo Harwell; and great-grandson, Jonathan Michael Hanle, Jr.

Over his lifetime, he served as a deacon in four different churches, including Shades Crest Baptist Church. He taught Sunday School for many of his 58 years at Shades Crest Baptist. In retirement he enjoyed family beach trips, fishing, gardening and daily visits with his buddies in “the piddlers” senior coffee group at the church gym and at the Bluff Park Hardware Store.

A “Celebration of a Happy Life” service will be held at Shades Crest Baptist Church, 452 Park Avenue, Hoover on Monday, June 17; with visitation at 10 a.m. and service at 11. A private family graveside service will follow at Jefferson-Currie Memorial Funeral Home and Gardens Cemetery in Hoover. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Shades Crest Baptist Church Building Fund.

(Shared by Phillip Rawls)

Hoyt Harwell a mentor to countless AP staffers

Kendall Weaver - Hoyt was a mentor to me and countless other young AP staffers during his career with the wire service.

He was extraordinarily keen, witty and thoughtful throughout his long life and brought sound news judgment, vivid writing skills and round-the-clock energy to his reporting. He oversaw much of Alabama’s election night preparedness and vote tabulation, race calling and coordination with AP editors up the line. He also was a terrific sports writer, covering Alabama football in particular. He put together on extremely short notice an obituary on Alabama football coaching legend Paul “Bear” Bryant — such short notice that Bryant died around the time Hoyt was finishing the piece, which won a huge score on the play and moved with only a light edit in Atlanta when confirmation came on Bryant’s death.

Her mantra in fighting migraine disease – ‘Onward!’

Steve Hendren - Earlier this week, Paul saw my wife Sarah’s interview with Kansas University medical folks describing her decades-long battle with migraine disease and asked if he could provide a link to the interview for the benefit of Connecting colleagues who might be dealing with this disease or know someone who is. Historically there has also been a stigma associated with migraine and one of Sarah’s goals is to help erase that by sharing her story.

So in that spirit here’s what she had to say (fast forward to the 5:45 mark to skip the KU news segment)… Click here to view.

I am so proud of her courage - and stamina - to battle this for most of her adult life. This is a debilitating disease that until recently has lacked effective treatment options. And thankfully, finally, purpose-made drugs are being released that show real promise. And as Sarah relayed in her interview, there is real hope for keeping migraine from winning.”

Her mantra in facing this disease, Onward!, and always believe tomorrow will be a better day.

Your stories of joining the AP

David Espo – Cheyenne, 1974 - It was 50 years ago this summer that I reported to work in Cheyenne, Wyo. for my first AP assignment.

It was a close call. I was working at the Twin Falls Times-News in Idaho and had accepted a job at a newspaper in Hammond, Ind., but had not yet begun work there. Then I got a call from Dorman Cordell, COB in Denver, offering me a chance to work for AP. In something of an understatement, this seemed like a better opportunity. So I took it. Dorman turned me over to the exceptionally good graces of Dick Buholz, the Cheyenne correspondent. The other staffer was Warren Wintrode, whose typing speed and good cheer astonished me.

Cheyenne was a correspondency in those days under the control of the Denver bureau. That meant we weren't able to file stories directly to the state's nine daily newspapers. They were first vetted in the control bureau in Denver.

I was in Cheyenne 11 months. In that time, I covered a World Cup ski event in Jackson that went on for several extra days because there was too much snow. There was the scare that the governor might have been injured or worse when high winds blew off the roof at the airport terminal, where he often ate his lunch.

Not to mention the very quiet Sunday when the only news was a fatal accident on Interstate 80. It led my broadcast summary. I went home, turned on the television news, and was amused to see that the crash was the top item. I couldn't believe it when the first commercial break, paid for by a local funeral chapel, provided viewers with information about rites for the crash's victim.

One plea: Dick Buholz, if you are out there, I have lost your email address and would like to be in touch. davidmespo@gmail.com

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Arthur Max – Tel Aviv, 1970 - A bit ashamed to say I never studied journalism or worked on a paper, not even the Daily Student at Indiana University. I walked into the AP office in Tel Aviv and was hired by Hal McClure for the menial tasks of punching telex and running errands, gradually doing the odd spot story and “mailers,” as we called them then. I worked from day one with the great Marcus Eliason and later with Frank Crepeau, Larry Thorson and Nick and Earleen Tatro. With teachers like those, I didn’t miss the classroom. In the ‘70s and 80’s — first in Tel Aviv and later as Jerusalem correspondent — Israel was a crucible of news and a highway to front pages. Then it was Nordic news editor, Delhi COB and finally Amsterdam COB. To this day, I don’t know if I would pass the AP writing test.

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Dan Perry – Bucharest, 1990 - In early 1990 I realized that despite advanced degrees in computer science, I preferred to be a journalist. As a teen I had written for the King of Prussia Courier, our local Pennsylvania blat, and had produced shows called “16 Minutes” and “Dusk Magazine” in our school TV studio as well. Since I was in Israel at the time, I was soon confronted by Nick Tatro. A living legend, I was to learn.

Nick barked at the considerably more stoic GG Labelle to sit me down and administer the AP Test on a flickering monochrome screen. I took great care with it, reading and rereading, polishing and improving until GG gently insisted that my time was up. The printout was handed to Nick. No sooner had I sat down than did the man issue his verdict: “Well, you can spell. Lemme talk to Alison.”

Romania had just experienced an anti-Communist revolution, which was a big story. My parents, who escaped communist Romania, had taught me the language. Alison Smale was the grand poobah of Eastern Europe. In the later years of Nicolae Ceausescu's harsh rule AP had maintained no permanent presence in Romania, as reporting was quite hopeless. After the revolution, though, foreign correspondents were flown in.

Soon I was in Bucharest myself, aiding Edie Lederer (pictured with me above) -- who was then already a veteran no less iconic than Nick, if a shade less gruff. Part of my job was helping her fend off the advances of an amorous US constitutional expert. The other part involved spelling. I saw Edie off at the airport when her stint was up. I remember her all aflutter, with her notebook and her handbag and whatnot, and what she said to me was this: “I’m sure you’ll be successful!”

The next stop was Tom Kent’s cubicle at 50 Rock, where I hoped for a job on the international desk. The always-quite-reasonable Kent had other plans: “How does Bucharest sound?” He wanted to open a proper new bureau to chronicle the transition to democracy – and one with permanent staff actually led by me! I decided the wisest course was playing hard to get. Exhausting much of my sum knowledge about the country at the time, I tried to look skeptical and said this: “If I were to agree, could I also report from Brasov?” Kent regarded me as one regards an imbecile and calmly replied: “Yes. I see no reason why not.”

Thus began a 28-year career that took me all over the world from Puerto Rico to Cairo to London and most places in between. I came, and then I went, and Edie Lederer is still there. She has certainly been successful!

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Jim Salter – St. Louis, 1993 - I started with AP in October 1993 in St. Louis and will forever owe a debt of gratitude to Paul Stevens, Missouri/Kansas COB at the time, ACOB Fran Richardson (later Fran Richardson Mears), and News Editor Kent Zimmerman. I suspect the days are long past when a guy could be hired from the 6,000-circulation Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post to the AP, but that was my fortunate fate.

I’m still in St. Louis – kinda. We closed our office in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and since I was the only reporter left, it was decided I could work from home permanently. These days, most of my stories originate from my basement office in O’Fallon, Mo. There are pros and cons to working from home. I don’t miss the lengthy commute. But when my 3-year-old grandson cracks open the basement door and yells down, “Grandpa Jim, can you play?” it’s hard to say no.

I held Jerry West to just 28 points

ABOVE: Jerry West, star of East Bank High School in West Virginia.

RIGHT: Former AP newsman Strat Douthat

EDITOR'S NOTE: NBA icon and Hall of Famer Jerry West died Wednesday at the age of 86. Our colleague Strat Douthat remembers their days as a high school opponents.

Strat Douthat - The year was 1956. I was a shooting guard for the Huntington High Pony Express ...and, I never saw a shot I didn't like. We didn't have a very good team, losing our first eight games. After that, we sort of pulled together and went about 50-50 our last 16 games. We did go down to Ashland, Ky., and beat the Ashland Tom Cats on their home turf and good ol' Strat scored 28 points...believe it or not.

But when we went up to East Bank, it was a much different story. Their game floor was on a stage...the only one I ever saw that was like that. Jerry West was the best high school player in the state (and, one of the best in the country). He went on to star at WVU and took the Mountaineers to the NCAA championship game, before losing to the California Bears. I went to El Gato, the favorite watering hole at Marshall College. Anyway, I can't remember too much.

He played forward and I was a guard (a shooting guard), so we didn't come into contact all that much. I don't remember the final score but do know he scored 28 points. So, I tell everybody I held Jerry West to 28 points. The only thing I can remember is stealing the ball and going in for a layup...but not from him.

It's all a 70-year-old blur, a Jerry West blur...He lived at the mouth of Cabin Creek, a coal mining holler just east of Charleston and went to high school up the road at East Bank. I remember that when he went to the Lakers, the team's reigning star, Elgin Baylor, called him "Zeke from Cabin Creek." Baylor averaged 34.8 points that season and West averaged 17.6, probably the only time he averaged less than 20. He averaged 27 points a game for his career and was voted MVP in the championship series against the Celtics, even though his team lost in seven games. He truly was a great clutch player, a lot like Larry Bird, in that respect. When the clock was running down and your team was a point behind, give the ball to Jerry West. (or, Michael Jordan).

The Schooner Alert

Jim Gerberich - The Schooner Alert glides out of Merriconeag Sound in Casco Bay for an early evening sail.

Connecting wishes Happy Birthday

On Saturday to…

On Sunday to…

AP classes, by the year...

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a listing of Connecting colleagues who have shared with me the year and the bureau where they started with the AP. If you would like to share your own information, I will include in later postings. Current AP staffers are also welcomed to share their information.)

1951 - Norm Abelson (Boston)

1953 – Charles Monzella (Huntington, WVa)

1955 – Henry Bradsher (Atlanta), Paul Harrington (Boston), Joe McGowan

1958 – Roy Bolch (Kansas City)

1959 – Charlie Bruce (Montgomery)

1960 – Claude Erbsen (New York), Carl Leubsdorf (New Orleans)

1961 – Peter Arnett (Jakarta, Indonesia), Warren Lerude (San Diego)

1962 – Paul Albright (Cheyenne), Malcolm Barr Sr. (Honolulu), Myron Belkind (New York)

1963 – Hal Bock (New York)

1964 – Rachel Ambrose (Indianapolis), Larry Hamlin (Oklahoma City), Ron Mulnix

1965 – Bob Dobkin (Pittsburgh), Harry Dunphy (Denver), John Gibbons (New York), Jim Luther (Nashville), Larry Margasak (Harrisburg)

1966 – Mike Doan (Portland, OR), Mike Short (Los Angeles), Marty Thompson (Seattle), Kent Zimmerman (Chicago)

1967 – Adolphe Bernotas (Concord), Lou Boccardi (New York), Linda Deutsch (Los Angeles), Don Harrison (Los Angeles), Doug Kienitz (Cheyenne), Bruce Lowitt (Los Angeles), Chuck McFadden (Los Angeles), Martha Malan (Minneapolis), Larry Paladino (Detroit), Michael Putzel (Raleigh), Bruce Richardson (Chicago), Victor Simpson (Newark), Michael Sniffen (Newark)

1968 – John Eagan (San Francisco), Joe Galu (Albany), Peter Gehrig, Charles Hanley (Albany), Jerry Harkavy (Portland, Maine), Herb Hemming (New York), Brian King (Albany), Samuel Koo (New York), Karren Mills (Minneapolis), Michael Rubin (Los Angeles), Rick Spratling (Salt Lake City)

1969 - Ann Blackman (New York), Ford Burkhart (Philadelphia), Dick Carelli (Charleston, WVa), Dennis Coston (Richmond), Daniel Haney (Portland, Maine), Mike Harris (Chicago), Brad Martin (Kansas City), David Minthorn (Frankfurt), Cynthia Rawitch (Los Angeles), Bob Reid (Charlotte), Mike Reilly (New York)

1970 – Richard Boudreaux (New York), Richard Drew (San Francisco), Bob Egelko (Los Angeles), Steve (Indy) Herman (Indianapolis), Lee Margulies (Los Angeles), Chris Pederson (Salt Lake City), Brendan Riley (San Francisco), Larry Thorson (Philadelphia)

1971 – Harry Atkins (Detroit), Jim Bagby (Kansas City), Larry Blasko (Chicago), Jim Carlson (Milwaukee), Jim Carrier (New Haven), Chris Connell (Newark), Bill Hendrick (Birmingham), John Lumpkin (Dallas), Kendal Weaver (Montgomery)

1972 – Hank Ackerman (New York), Mike Graczyk (Detroit), Lindel Hutson (Little Rock), Brent Kallestad (Sioux Falls), Tom Kent (Hartford), Nolan Kienitz (Dallas), Andy Lippman (Phoenix), Lew Wheaton (Richmond)

1973 - Jerry Cipriano (New York), Susan Clark (New York), Norm Clarke (Cincinnati), Joe Galianese (East Brunswick), Merrill Hartson (Richmond), Mike Hendricks (Albany), Tom Journey (Tucson), Steve Loeper (Los Angeles), Tom Slaughter (Sioux Falls), Jim Spehar (Denver), Paul Stevens (Albany), Jeffrey Ulbrich (Cheyenne), Owen Ullmann (Detroit), John Willis (Omaha)

1974 – Norman Black (Baltimore), David Espo (Cheyenne), Robert Glass (Philadelphia), Steve Graham (Helena), Elaine Hooker (Hartford), Sue Price Johnson (Charlotte), Dave Lubeski (Washington), Lee Mitgang (New York), Marc Wilson (Little Rock)

1975 – Peter Eisner (Columbus), David Powell (New York), Eileen Alt Powell (Milwaukee)

1976 – Judith Capar (Philadelphia), Dick Chady (Albany), David Egner (Oklahoma City), Marc Humbert (Albany), Chuck Wolfe (Charlotte)

1977 – Robert Burns (Jefferson City), Charles Campbell (Nashville), Dave Carpenter (Philadelphia), Ken Herman (Dallas), Mike Holmes (Des Moines), Scott Kraft (Jefferson City), Kevin LeBoeuf (Los Angeles), Ellen Nimmons (Minneapolis), Dan Sewell (Buffalo), Estes Thompson (Richmond)

1978 - Doug Pizac (Los Angeles), Charles Richards (Dallas), Steve Wilson (Boston)

1979 – Scotty Comegys (Chicago), Brian Friedman (Des Moines), Sally Hale (Dallas), Phillip Rawls (Nashville), Linda Sargent (Little Rock), Robert Wielaard (Brussels)

1980 – Bill Kaczor (Tallahassee) Mitchell Landsberg (Reno), Kevin Noblet (New Orleans), David Speer (Jackson), Hal Spencer (Providence), Carol J. Williams (Seattle)

1981 – Paul Davenport (Phoenix), Dan Day (Milwaukee), Ed McCullough (Albany), Mark Mittelstadt (Des Moines), Roland Rochet (New York), Lee Siegel (Seattle), Marty Steinberg (Baltimore)

1982 – Dorothy Abernathy (Little Rock), Tom Cohen (Jefferson City), John Epperson (Chicago), Ric Feld (Atlanta), Nick Geranios (Helena), Robert Kimball (New York), Bill Menezes (Kansas City), David Ochs (New York)

1983 – Scott Charton (Little Rock), Sue Cross (Columbus), Diana Heidgerd (Miami), Cliff Schiappa (Kansas City), Rande Simpson (New York), Dave Skidmore (Milwaukee)

1984 - Jack Elliott (Oklahoma City), Eva Parziale (San Francisco), Joe Macenka (Richmond)

1985 - Betty Kumpf Pizac (Los Angeles)

1986 – Joni Baluh Beall (Richmond), Dave DeGrace (Milwaukee), Alan Flippen (Louisville), Jim Gerberich (San Francisco), Howard Goldberg (New York), Mark Hamrick (Dallas)

1987 – Donna Abu-Nasr (Beirut), Dave Bauder (Albany), Beth Harris (Indianapolis), Lynne Harris (New York), John Rogers (Los Angeles)

1988 – Peg Coughlin (Pierre), Kathy Gannon (Islamabad), Melissa Jordan (Sioux Falls)

1989 – Ron Fournier (Little Rock)

1990 – Dan Perry (Bucharest), Sean Thompson (New York)

1991 – Lisa Pane (Hartford)

1993 – Jim Salter (St. Louis)

1996 – Patricia N. Casillo (New York)

1997 - Pamela Collins (Dallas), Madhu Krishnappa Maron (New York), Jennifer Yates (Baltimore)

2000 – Gary Gentile (Los Angeles)

Stories of interest

US reporter Evan Gershkovich, jailed in Russia on espionage charges, to stand trial, officials say (AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed for over a year in Russia on espionage charges, will stand trial in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, where he was detained, authorities said Thursday.

An indictment of The Wall Street Journal reporter has been finalized and his case was filed to the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow, according to Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office. There was no word on when the trial would begin.

Gershkovich, 32, is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produces and repairs military equipment, the Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement, revealing for the first time the details of the accusations against him.

Gershkovich was detained while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of spying for the United States. The reporter, his employer and the U.S. government denied the allegations, and Washington designated him as wrongfully detained.

Read more here. Shared by Lou Boccardi.

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Many people say they avoid the news. The news doesn’t avoid them. (Columbia Journalism Review)

By BETSY MORAIS

In our new election-focused issue, Josh Hersh contends with the problem of news avoidance. Network ratings are below what executives would expect at this point in the campaign cycle; as the journalist Brian Stelter put it, “The overarching emotion among voters is apathy and even burnout.” That could be a matter of circumstance—“a uniquely disliked set of candidates, a rare presidential rerun,” Hersh writes—but it may be that “something more fundamental, and therefore worrisome, is going on.” According to a public interest group called More in Common, there is an “exhausted majority” of Americans who feel unwilling or unable to keep up with the constant stream of coverage, even when it’s not an election year. “It doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily tuned out,” Daniel Yudkin, a social psychologist who helps lead research at More in Common, says. “There’s just other issues and topics and questions that people are dealing with.” Many among the exhausted majority actually do interact with news, as Hersh notes—only indirectly, and often on social media.

Yesterday, Pew came out with data that illuminates Americans’ relationship to the news online. In a 2023 study, Pew found that half of US adults at least sometimes get their news from social media; this latest research surveyed ten thousand people about their internet habits, examining the way “specific platforms differ widely in structure, content, and culture.” The findings reveal how people perceive their relationships to news on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X. The last of these, formerly known as Twitter, is the only site for which respondents see keeping up with the news as a reason to log on. Among those who say they regularly follow news on X, eight in ten report getting it from news outlets or journalists on the site.

Read more here. Shared by Linda Deutsch.

The Final Word

Shared by Len Iwanski

Today in History – June 14, 2024

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, June 14, the 166th day of 2024. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 14, 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.

On this date:

In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.

In 1846, a group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.

In 1911, the British ocean liner RMS Olympic set out on its maiden voyage for New York, arriving one week later. (The ship’s captain was Edward John Smith, who went on to command the ill-fated RMS Titanic the following year.)

In 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown embarked on the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.

In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1967, California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a bill liberalizing his state’s abortion law.

In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end.

In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2005, Michelle Wie, 15, became the first female player to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Association championship, tying for first place in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tournament.

In 2013, The Associated Press reported Minnesota resident Michael Karkoc (KAHR’-kahts) had been a top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children, then lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States after World War II.

In 2017, fire ripped through the 24-story Grenfell Tower in West London, killing 71 people.

In 2018, a Justice Department watchdog report on the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe criticized the FBI and its former director, James Comey, but did not find evidence that political bias tainted the investigation.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Marla Gibbs is 93. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is 85. Country-rock musician Spooner Oldham is 81. Rock singer Rod Argent (The Zombies; Argent) is 79. Former President Donald Trump is 78. Singer Janet Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 78. Rock musician Barry Melton is 77. Actor Will Patton is 70. Olympic gold medal speed skater Eric Heiden (HY’-dun) is 66. Jazz musician Marcus Miller is 65. Singer Boy George is 63. Rock musician Chris DeGarmo is 61. Actor Traylor Howard is 58. Actor Yasmine Bleeth is 56. Actor Faizon Love is 56. Actor Stephen Wallem is 56. International Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf is 55. Actor Sullivan Stapleton is 47. Screenwriter Diablo Cody is 46. Classical pianist Lang Lang is 42. Actor Lawrence Saint-Victor is 42. Actor Torrance Coombs is 41. Actor J.R. Martinez is 41. Actor-singer Kevin McHale is 36. Actor Lucy Hale is 35. Pop singer Jesy Nelson (Little Mix) is 35. Country singer Joel Crouse is 31. Actor Daryl Sabara is 32.

Got a photo or story to share?

Connecting is a daily newsletter published Monday through Friday that reaches more than 1,800 retired and former Associated Press employees, present-day employees, and news industry and journalism school colleagues. It began in 2013. Past issues can be found by clicking Connecting Archive in the masthead. Its author, Paul Stevens, retired from the AP in 2009 after a 36-year career as a newsman in Albany and St. Louis, correspondent in Wichita, chief of bureau in Albuquerque, Indianapolis and Kansas City, and Central Region vice president based in Kansas City.

Got a story to share? A favorite memory of your AP days? Don't keep them to yourself. Share with your colleagues by sending to Ye Olde Connecting Editor. And don't forget to include photos!

Here are some suggestions:

- Connecting "selfies" - a word and photo self-profile of you and your career, and what you are doing today. Both for new members and those who have been with us a while.

- Second chapters - You finished a great career. Now tell us about your second (and third and fourth?) chapters of life.

- Spousal support - How your spouse helped in supporting your work during your AP career.

- My most unusual story - tell us about an unusual, off the wall story that you covered.

- "A silly mistake that you make"- a chance to 'fess up with a memorable mistake in your journalistic career.

- Multigenerational AP families - profiles of families whose service spanned two or more generations.

- Volunteering - benefit your colleagues by sharing volunteer stories - with ideas on such work they can do themselves.

- First job - How did you get your first job in journalism?

- Most unusual place a story assignment took you.

Paul Stevens

Editor, Connecting newsletter

paulstevens46@gmail.com