Remembering John McCalla, editor of Washington Business Journal

The Washington Business Journal has an editorial about its former editor John McCalla, who died last week at age 38.

Here is a portion of the editorial:

“We all saw a piece of John here on our editorial page. He chronicled his anger over the city’s on-again, off-again (and, he thought, facist) ban on cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants. He fiercely and brilliantly defended real urban living, as he walked us down Connecticut Avenue and pined for the days before big retailers outmaneuvered the eclectic local shops that he believed create an urban neighborhood. He tried all of the restaurants the rest of us promise ourselves we’ll get to. And he made living look like something not to be trifled with.

“What you may have missed was the impact he had on the other pages of this newspaper. He had true love for a good story. He actively searched for good writers and good writing. He worked to perfect his own writing style every week. And he always thought his brilliant words ‘sucked’ (his word, not ours).

“As much as John loved this newspaper, he loved his staff and his colleagues 10 times that. He was committed to making each better than he or she was without him — and he succeeded almost every time.

“We’ve had a week to sit with his death, to talk about and remember the things that made John so important to all of us.”

Read more here. A subscription is required.