Telling Stories
Think about it. That’s what I do. I tell people’s stories. Sometimes they are happy stories, tales of hope, recollections of times past. Sometimes the stories are not so happy.
And sometimes the people whose stories I tell are … people.
They are people like Robert Pemberton, a man who has a great family legacy with Crescent Market. A legacy that isn’t diminished by the store’s closing. But he’s a person under great strain. His mother is ailing. He’s facing the inevitable onslaught of newer, hipper, better funded corporate groceries coming in from all directions – Whole Foods to the south, Sunflower Market to the west, and a revamped Homeland to the north.
His days as a grocer, at least in Nichols Hills Plaza, were numbered. But he wasn’t ready to tell his story. And when he learned that Linda Cavanaugh at KFOR was going to tell that story, with or without him, he panicked.
And when I called him, he denied everything. Even though the truth was apparent to everybody.
So what was I to do? I had a denial I knew wasn’t going to hold. And to put that denial out in print would be to question the work of a journalist I respect. Someone who did her homework. Someone who got the story right.
And so I did the post you read last week. It was a compromise, really. It was a way for me to tell you that yes, I was aware of this story. Yes, I had checked into it. This was his response. But I wasn’t telling you that Linda Cavanaugh got the story wrong.
I knew she got it right.
Every journalist has their own way, their own method of telling these stories. And we face times when we’re conflicted; do we go ahead and get the story first, regardless of whether someone like Pemberton is ready to share that story? I’ve done that from time to time. That’s what Cavanaugh did last week – and it was a totally legit move on her part.
Then there are times when you decide to hold – even when you know you’re going to be legitimately scooped. My gut told me I could get a better grasp of this story – and give more context – if I worked with Pemberton, gave him time to come to terms with what is, essentially, a death of a loved one (the store).
If you go to www.newsok.com/stevelackmeyer you can read those stories now – or catch the morning paper and take it all in, photos and all, and plan what might be your first, and last, visit to Crescent Market.
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Comments
Steve I believe you handled the story with the appropriate grace and style for those involved. I do not share your respect for your fellow journalist but that is for another time and place.
Pemberton has the option of presiding over and bringing to a close the end of an era in OKC that will never return or he can react badly. I hope and pray he handles the finale with diginity and grace befitting the institution that is Crescent Market.
i’m certainly not convinced that he couldn’t continue to be a success downtown. i hope he tries. on the other hand, i understand how difficult it must be, especially with a loved one who is ill. i hope he feels a great outpouring of support by those he has served.
David – The problem is that Robert Pemberton ISN’T a success. However, two successful grocers will arise from this – one in the Crescent’s former space at Nichols Hills Plaza, and another in downtown/midtown/Deep Deuce. The Nichols Hills crowd will go to the Crescent’s successor if they position it like Eatzi’s in Dallas (and other market).
Excellent story in the paper today, Steve. Respectful and befitting of such a great old institution. I shopped only occasionally at Crescent, and it seemed to always be around the holidays. Festive!
Thanks James. I’m sure there are other reporters who would handle it this way too. My only reason in sharing all this was to explain why things were so awkward when I first blogged about this last week.
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