Let Us Now Praise Eric Boehlert

Eric Boehlert was one of my good hires at Salon. A media critic who never pulled his punches, never kissed the asses of the powerful -- even those who could offer him better jobs in the media industry. He was a tough, taciturn, no-bullshit kind of guy. Just the kind I wanted in the Salon trenches with me, where it seemed we were always under fire. He was also a tall guy with a winning smile -- which I liked.

I'll always remember another young Salon reporter who unapologetically refused a story assignment one day -- at a meeting in front of the entire Salon editorial staff. She blurted out that she didn't want to take the assignment -- a critical look at Vogue magazine -- because she might want to get work there some day. It was so brazen a statement of self-interest that my staff was momentarily silenced. I looked directly at her and told her, "Don't embarrass yourself. Do the job."

Eric was never like that. He was a true journalist, following the story wherever it took him, even if it meant biting the rump of the gray lady -- aka the newspaper of record. It's fitting that he ended his career reporting and writing his own media blog -- nobody could tell him what to do, unless he felt it was right.

Eric died in a bicycling accident at age 57 earlier this week. It's been a hard time for ex-Salon people of late. But I remember all of them -- many are still my heroes