Categories: OLD Media Moves

An interview with Dow Jones

Kevin Roose of the New York Times‘ Dealbook called up a 92-year-old man named Dow Jones in Alma, Ark., to ask him how he was doing on Thursday.

Roose writes, “When reached at his home on Dow Jones Road, Mr. Jones told DealBook that unlike the stock market, he had not taken a tumble.

“‘I’m having a wonderful day!’ he said. ‘I’m alive, at least.’

“Mr. Jones said his first name, Dow, is not short for anything, and would only specify his age as ‘old enough to know better.’ A public records search revealed that he was born in July 1919, making him 92.

“Mr. Jones confirmed that sharing a name with the world’s most famous stock index has resulted in plenty of jokes over the years. He said he typically did not say anything in response to the jokes.

“When asked whether he owned any stocks himself, Mr. Jones said that he didn’t. ‘I follow my own stock market,’ he said, referring to God.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.