Last year around this time, we ran a story about an error-ridden obituary of Tony Rice that ran in Relix magazine online. It turned out that the mistakes were the result of an inexperienced staffer who found herself needing to write and approve copy over the Christmas break, without the sort of editorial support that would have spared her, and the publication, the resulting embarrassment.
Well… it has happened again. The December 28 print edition of The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown paper, ran the Associated Press obituary for J.D. Crowe, along with a photo of Del McCoury, identified simply as “Crowe.” One supposes that any old bluegrass guy will suffice, eh?
Former IBMA Board member Craig Havighurst posted the image above on Twitter, along with his disappointment that an institution where he had once served could make such an embarrassing error. And our good friend Katy Daley of Bluegrass Stories reminded us of the time that Lester Flatt sued Esquire magazine in 1973 when it referred to him in a monthly edition as “the late Lester Flatt.” Flatt sued accusing the magazine of costing him lost income by indicating that he was no longer performing.
It’s a good thing Del McCoury isn’t litigious by nature.
Shame on someone at The Tennessean. It is not likely that the AP sent that image with their obit.
We presume that the error is associated with the fact that the image used in the online edition of the story is of Crowe with Del, his brother, Jerry, and Bobby Osborne.
Tsk, tsk…
