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Subscribe to RSSAn Oregon newspaper was forced to print an embarrassing correction after sordid details about the death of one of the paper's own Pulitzer Prize-winning editors began to emerge.
Bob Caldwell, 63, a longtime editorial page editor at The Oregonian, died on Saturday. A family friend initially told the newspaper that Caldwell was found dead in his car; later, The Oregonian reported Caldwell had actually gone into cardiac arrest while engaged in a "sex act" with a 23-year-old woman at her apartment. He reportedly had been paying her in exchange for such encounters.
Caldwell, who is married with three children, was "coughing and then unresponsive" during sex with the woman, the paper reported. The woman, who was not identified, allegedly told sheriff's deputies she met Caldwell about a year ago at Portland Community College. Caldwell gave her cash for books and other items for school in exchange for sexual favors at her apartment, she said, according to The Oregonian.
Caldwell was transported to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Saturday, and was later pronounced dead, The Oregonian said. He had not given the woman money on Saturday, according to the paper.
No prostitution charges will be filed against the woman, deputies said.
“Technically we probably could have charged her with prostitution because there was an exchange of something, books and maybe tuition money for sex,” Sgt. Dave Thompson told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “But it’s a misdemeanor crime, and the circumstances of the guy dying in her apartment, we felt like it was probably not the most important arrest to make.”
Widow: 'We love him unconditionally'
On Tuesday, Caldwell's widow, Lora Cuykendall, posted a Facebook update about the circumstances concerning his death, and saying he "would have understood why The Oregonian needed to print the story." She added, "He also would have regretted the anguish that it caused to those he loves - both outside and inside of the newspaper. We love him unconditionally. Thanks to all of you for your loving support."
It's not known whether Caldwell's widow was aware of his affair.
The Oregonian's original obituary described Caldwell as having a "big smile and and a bigger laugh."
Caldwell's editorial career with the Oregonian began in 1995, but he worked for the paper for a total of 30 years. The newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 under him for a series of editorials about abuses at the Oregon State hospital, titled "Oregon's Forgotten Hospital," according to The Associated Press.
"He never lost his schoolboy enthusiasm for putting out the newspaper," said the obituary. "He never lost sight of the democratic ideals that drew him to journalism in the first place: Tell people the news, and the rest will follow."
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What a bunch of s//theads. Right or wrong that didn't need to be made public.
The guy was a Pulitzer Prize winning editor. Did he ever publish any editorials about other peoples private lives? Maybe a case of 'what goes around, comes around'?
With tongue firmly in cheek, I claim the public has every right to know this woman screwed someone to death. Future potential dates should know this.
RAS928- why not? They would be lying about his death to save face... Cause of death is public knowledge and this is case is no different then any other besides the fact that he was paying for it and oh married to another....
So it's OK for a writer and a newspaper to report about everyone else... except themselves? Communist...
Maybe she needs to have a sign posted on her hand. "Caution...Sex with me may be hazardous/fatal to your health".
wat a way to go !!!....
He never lost his schoolboy enthusiasm for putting out the newspaper," said the obituary...
Sounds to me he didn't loose his schoolboy enthusiasm for getting laid either. oooo, but what a way to go... died with his boots off.
"Tongue firmly in cheek" ? Wow...a pun within a pun...well done...the editor would have been pleased with that turn of phrase. I agree in one sense that it's no one's business...however...as the editor was a "newspaper" professional...and they do make things public...hence, "live by the sword, die by the sword".
No ones cause of death is automatically public knowledge. They sometimes won't even post the cause of death of murder victims and the cause of death of many celebrities aren't known. There was no point in posting the cause of his death, even if what comes around goes around what does he care? It's his widow and kids who are embarrassed.
At least he died like a man.
The paper did the right thing in printing the correction because they had originally printied factually incorrect information about the location and manner of his death.
RAS928:
The NEWSPAPERS should always print the TRUTH!! THE WHOLE TRUTH!!!!!!!
@RTColorado. Thank you. Clever use of the language on this site is a lot like wetting your pants when you're wearing a dark suit.....it gives you a warm feeling, but nobody notices.
Given the cause of death, that sounds about right . . . I wonder why they had to print a correction? (haha).
On a serious note, though, it's gotta be tough on his family - kudos to his wife for salvaging some measure of dignity in the statement she made. Heart goes out to her.
Another issue to be "researched" using taxpayer dollars.
Harvard, in conjunction with inputs from Georgetown University, research paper headline:
"An Oregon newspaper was forced to print an embarrassing correction"
Seriously? Embarrassing? We should all be lucky enough to go out during a sex act. I feel bad for the wife but I imagine any sons or boy grandchildren are thinking "That's my Grandpa!" He should be given some kind of prize for going out on top of a gal 40 years younger than him.
Yup, hard-hitting news all right ;-)
"The Oregonian's original obituary described Caldwell as having a "big smile and and a bigger laugh."
Of course he did, he was 63 and nailing a 23 year old and how many more that we don't know about? I'd be smiling my ass off too.
P.S.
"He never lost his schoolboy enthusiasm for putting out the newspaper,"
Nor did he loose his schoolboy enthusiasm for putting it to schoolgirls, or his enthusiasm for schoolgirls who put out.
Guys, why is it the woman's fault the man died? Maybe he shouldn't have been engaging in strenuous sexual activity.
You don't think his family was publicly humiliated? You don't think his co-workers were embarrassed?
There is nothing laudable about betraying your spouse and family, and it says nothing about his sexual prowess when he had to pay a woman to have sex with him. I trust his sons and grandsons will see the unimaginable pain he's caused his wife (who has shown remarkable class) and any other thinking members of his family and will see that sometimes selfishly going for the bit of fun comes at too high a cost. He paid with his life and his family paid with having every memory of him poisoned by the knowledge of how he died and having his death become an object of jokes and ridicule. It just doesn't seem that funny to me....the man died a tawdry death as a selfish sleaze, not a sexual hero to be emulated by juveniles.
"we felt like it was probably not the most important arrest to make"
Gee, really? Thanks for making yourself sound like a saint. If you did arrest her couldn't she sue you for not arresting every other woman who has a sugar daddy or who marries a man for his money?
From what is in the story there is no proof at all of sex for money, he spent money on things to help her out and in return she helped him out in the way she could.
Did Caldwell ever write about or comment on the death of David Carradine? As has been noted 'what goes round, comes'round'.
[the jokes, puns or otherwise, arising from this event are endless]
I would hope Mrs Caldwell was well aware of hubby's proclivities and has long since created a good life for herself.
Hmmm... What a way to go - doing what he loved to do.
However, apparently The Oregonian failed to observe the basic tenets of newswriting, as "drilled home" by my newswriting 1A professor, Mr. Woodson - "Always remember to include the five Ws - "Who, What, Where, When, Why; and to that you must consider adding, How, in order to make your article much more newsworthy and complete."
Full disclosure is in order.
I get the "big smile" part. :-)
.
As the late, great Richard Pryor once said: "Now, that's what I call 'recycling'!"
The voice of Reason.. how refreshing !
Agreed. That was a good call on the authorities part.
Then why bust anyone for prostitution? Why arrest anyone for anything?
I think prostitution is a dumb law.. Its not any different than a guy buying a gal drinks at a bar and taking her home for a one night stand... That is trading drinks for sex but we view that as ok..
It usually costed me dinner too... I think you made out on both counts.. (pun intended).
Prostitution is the only crime where the only act that is not legal is the transfer of money from one consenting adult to another. If there was no money involved, it's just random sex with a stranger, and that is legal. So it does not make any sense to me that they still treat prostitution as a crime. I say regulate it, and tax it.
I agree but let us be consistant. 4 mph over the speed limit or no signal on right turn or many many other violations do not deserve an arrest either. Or how about a burnt out tail light.... when is the last time you checked your tail lights? No arrest here was good call... no arrest in other cases would be a good call also.
"Consistant"? (Hint: consistent)
How about realistic, Bob? When was the last time were you - or anyone you know or have heard of - arrested simply for (driving) "4 mph over the speed limit or no signal on right turn or...a burnt out tail light"?
sorry about the a for the e... and I know better!
I DO know people who have gotten a ticket for a burnt out tail light.
The purpose of my reply was to remind people who support the no arrest in this situation to support a no arrest in many other situations.
This wasn't really prostitution in the classical sense. Sounded like more of a mistress/sugardaddy situation. That poor kid should not have to pay for an old fart (likely on viagra) dying on top of her.
I agree with Bob--simply because cops don't usually screw you over for cruising four mph past the speed limit doesn't mean they can't. I don't know about arresting you, but they sure as shooting can give you a very hard time unnecessarily. It shouldn't be at the cop's discretion whether they can mess with you for going 5 mph over the speed limit or not. There should be some sort of legally-established wiggle room: say, at certain times of the day, going at less than 10 mph over the speed limit won't get you into trouble.
And I think it was a great call on the cops' part not to make the woman any more miserable than she probably is right now. It kind of restores my faith in our authorities that they can be so understanding.
A 'ticket' is not an 'arrest'! I very seriously doubt you'd be cuffed and taken in for 4 mph over speed limit, broken tail light or anything small like that. Unless you act like an idiot and disrespect the officer who stopped you. If you are respectful, you probably won't even get a ticket. Act like an ass, you'll get a ticket for sure and act like a big enough ass and they'll haul your ass to jail. No one likes getting pulled over but we need to remember that Police Officers NEVER know what they are approaching when they pull someone over and are putting their lives on the line everyday when they go to work. I don't like The Man or Authority any more than the next person but I know enough to respect someone who is simply doing his job (trying to feed his own family) and potentially putting his life in danger every minute of every day he is on the clock.
Moe: I understand the distinction you are perceiving. However, a ticket is an arrest; it just generally isn't thought of that way. When you sign the ticket you are essentially bonding out ROR by promising to appear at court. If you don't think a ticket is an arrest, try not signing it when a police officer really wants to give one to you. You will be cuffed, and booked into jail. Tickets (and all other citations) are, in essence, a misdemeanor arrest that simply skips the trip downtown, booking, & bail appearance. At the most basic level, any time you are directly delayed or detained in any manner by a police officer, you have, in essence, been arrested with one exception. A police officer (and any other representative of your state's department of safty, or whatever your state calls it) can ask to see your state issued ID at any time, because it actually belongs to them, not you.
Police officers really have only 1 power, the ability to arrest. Everything they do derives from, or is a variation of that action.
Well....as a fine lawyer at a Congressional hearing once asked,"....have you no decency?" The answer then was No, and the answer now is No.
Why do you care about this man's life>
The girl is most likely even younger than all of his children. And how many more are there that we don't know about because he didn't die while nailing them?
What is with these guys????
My guess is lack of morals and an unchecked libido. But I may be wrong.
Who are you to judge someone's morals? His life is his life--stay out of it.
Bart...do you believe he stayed out of other people's lives ? I suspect not. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that his paper thrived on the basis of exposing other people's foibles, hence he should be proud that he himself became more grist for the mill.
Bart Conner...would you say the same thing if this was an illicit gay liason with a young man?
Bart Conner: "His life is his life--stay out of it."
If he actually had felt this way, he'd be a hypocrite - journalism is glorified gossip-hounding. He made a living out digging into other peoples' business, perhaps embarrassing their loved-ones on more than one occasion.
First, he's dead, so there's no way I could be involved with persons life. Second, I'm not married and paying a college student a third my age for sex.
Finally, who are you to tell me not to voice my opinion on an internet board? For those offended by other people's opinions, this isn't a good place to spend time.
Bart, you wont win this one. We live in a country of nosey azz people who feel it is their "right" to know everything about everything and everyone. That is of course until it's their family, then they ask everyone to give them room.
Pfizer is what's "up" with these guys. I'm sure we would hear a lot less of these types of things had bonner pills not been invented.
On the other hand, who cares. I'm with the Australian that said (in refernce to our puritanical nature): "I'm glad we got the criminals and they got the Puritans". Get over yourselve people.
I do not know how this detail benefited anyone, or any journalistic ideal. My condolences to the family and friends of Bob.
It's not about it benefitting anyone - it's about if the real story got out and the paper had not reported the truth. Then, the paper would be seen as not being truthful and trustworthy and of hiding fact.
The truth is never pretty.
It's about selling papers with salacious details. It's about gossip.
No, it's not about gossip. As sleepinsadie said, it's about reporting facts. When a newspaper's editor dies, it's news in that paper and probably in others in that area. We're not talking about an obituary here, we're talking front page news. If the newspaper covered up the circumstances of the death, they would have been accused of a lack of journalistic integrity and covering up because he was one of their own. And those accusing would have been correct.
That said, I wish that, to some degree, we could return to the days when someone's personal life -- whether they were adulterous, cross-dressers, or simply were ill-mannered enough to pick their nose in public -- was not considered "news" and automatically made part of the story. IMO, the only time things like that are relevant are when it truly *is* part of the story, such as a TV evangelist or gay-baiting preacher gets caught in the "wrong" situation.
On the other hand, a long-time friend of my father was driven to suicide by his psychotic wife. He took his life at a hunting lodge after disappearing for a few days. The obituary she submitted to the paper retained the suicide part, but said that he was at his girlfriend's house. Classy.
Lizzie how do these "facts" affect your life at all? How do they "affect" any of us? Quit being so nosey.
Kayner - Facts are facts, you do not need quotes around the word.
How does the bus crash in Switzerland that killed 20+ kids affect any of us? How does the result of a basketball game affect you? affect has never had anything to do with news.
Facts do not deserve to be withheld simply because of who the person was that was involved in them.
@Kayner - read my post again and explain to me how it's being "nosey." Don't know if some reading comprehension on your part is in order, but it's not being "nosey" to explain to someone else how other papers would perceive a coverup of the facts surrounding the editor's death. I specifically said I wish we could, in large part, go back to the day when the facts of someone's personal life weren't made out to be part of the story when they're truly irrelevant. The only time personal facts should be part of the story, IMO, is when they *are* the story -- for example, some holier than thou TV evangelist who resigns because he's caught soliciting in a gay bar, or a priest who is a child molester, or someone on their high horse who's unnecessarily rude yet didn't comprehend the point being made in the first place.
Hope that clarifies it for you.
It's too bad the family had to find out like this. Tough times. Everybody look away so they can get on with their lives.
It seems like his family knew about the affair.
Try again, Bart:
What way to go, to die while doing what you love.
LMFAO!! XD
Exacto -mundo. guy died with a smile on ! NO long suffering torture in an out of hospitals, no nursing homes , no diapers waiting on an overworked underpaid staffer to draw the short straw to come and change him. NO poking and prodding by Docs and nurses, no pain. Just going for it.... and bam..... lights out. Not the worst way to go. We should be so lucky.
Die while having sex with a girl a third your age. I think thats how we would all like to go. Beats lying in a home or hospital bed any day.
Oh, I don't know about that. Hopefully, that'd depend on how old you are.
That's a fine sentiment if you are 80 years old. Not so much if you are 18.
this particular man might write a different ending for himself were he to be given the chance
Or even 30
Well at least the wife will know who the pretty lady at the funeral is...
But what about the other half dozen "pretty ladies" who are there?
If he was paying for it anyway, I doubt he stopped at just one.
TMI...but thats the price of living in a (relatively) free society!
and...as far as whether or not the widow knew about the affair...how come the paper hasn't chased her down the street demanding an answer....camped out on her lawn until she comes clean....brow beaten her into telling us the truth? They owe us the truth! all the truth! Unless there is just a modicum of decency left in the world...
Why is this revelation "Embarrassing."? He's dead. It's not embarrassing him at all.
I'm not one to judge. To each his own. How he conducted his life is among him, his family, and his sex partner.
He also never lost his schoolboy enthusiasm for letting his meatloaf.
Wow, he was a cheating s-o-b, lousy husband, extremely poor example to his 3 kids but he sure did have a big smile, big laugh and loved writing and covering the news.
His wife was obviously 100 times the man he was and I feel sorry for his kids. The way he died.....how could you NOT believe in God? What justice. And as the Joker said in the original batman: "If you gotta go.....go with a smile!"
KenMan- It sounds like if you asked his wife, she would say he was a great husband...you don't know. Maybe they were perfectly happy with an open marriage, in which case, he wouldn't even have been "cheating", per se. As far as being a poor example to his kids, I'm sure there was alot more to the man and his life than just this. And if "His wife was 100 times the MAN he was", then no wonder he was having an affair.
Finally, if you believe "God" struck him down for doing what he was doing, then I feel sorry for you.
Ken, why the indignation? Why do you care so much? Stay out of other people's bedrooms and mind your own.
People like Ken-man just can't help but judge other people based on their own Victorian moral beliefs. We have no idea what the rules were in HIS marriage and it is none of YOUR business to pass judgement on him... especially when the guy just dropped dead. Give your righteous indignation a rest already - it's ugly, nasty and downright mean.
Wait, you consider this evidence that God exists?
But yet when a school bus full of children is hit by a train [or something equally horrible that happens every day], that is NOT considered evidence that God is imaginary?
I'm confused.
Hopefully he went with a smile on his face. Better than lying in a bed somewhere with tubes sticking out of you.
A team of morticians worked for hours but they still couldn't remove the huge smile from Bob's face.
LMFAO!! XD Oh my God people are killing me with these jokes!!
In essence, she KILLED him. WOW! for the next 10 years or so that gal won't be able to even GIVE it away.
Au contraire, I'm sure the line is already forming outside of her apartment.
A. young guys will want to experience what it was that could kill a man
B. old guys will want to die having sex with a much younger woman
She won't need any more schoolbooks, she'll never have to work a day in her life.
R.I.P. Mr. Caldwell. Would that I should be so lucky. Condolences to family & friends. Wonder if the young lady needs any school supplies for next semester?
Dear B Hatfield/KY,
Your comment is crude and vulgar. I liked it.
"Sultry" details? Er, copy-editor? I think you mean "sordid".
Maybe they were role-playing.
What a way to go.
LOL @ B Hatfield/KY
A man was having sex with a woman other than his partner??? STOP THE PRESSES
Wow. Any woman who could kill you with some sex, I'd take my chances on that!
I heard that brother! I'd give her a shot at the title!
Get in line.
Seriously! I think even SEAL Team Six would consider her a worthy opponent!
Out with a bang.
What's the girls number?