Gwen Ifill

Gwen Ifill died today and somehow, I feel a personal loss. 
It's been a strange week, a stunning election upset, a super moon and now this.
Watching her over the years, I was always struck by her intelligence and her ability to sit through a politician's smoke screen of words, evading her pointed question, and I could count on her to say, "Well, but you did not answer the question about trade," or whatever the question was about. She smiled when she did that. And as one of her colleagues remarked on the News Hour tonight, you could read books by the light of that smile.

It's always bothered me that I was talking with one of the mucky mucks at the News Hour once, some (now 10) years ago, when I still lived in Washington, and got to go to dinner parties among the media set,  and I mentioned how Gwen Ifill had listened to some politician give his bogus answer about some question and she said, "Well, but just six months ago, you said..." and she completed eviscerated the guy, who deserved it. 

"Well," huffed the executive, "She read her briefing  notebook."
"But she remembered what was in the briefing notebook," I persisted.
"That's her job," the executive, a woman, said. "That's what she gets paid for."
"Then why don't other news people, who are also getting paid, do what she did?"
"I can't speak for other news programs."

Watching The News Hour tonight, it is clear Gwen Ifill was well loved. That executive retired some years ago. I think Ms. Ifill persisted and prevailed. 

It's been a sad week. 
But, as Ms. Scarlet would say, "Tomorrow is another day."