Original Scatterer Barry Johnson takes a flying leap
… into the next great adventure of his life.
Barry, who had the idea of Art Scatter in the first place and was the doctor on duty who slapped it on the bottom in the delivery room and sent it off squawking into the world, has told his many friends and followers he’s leaving The Oregonian as of Dec. 18.
He made the announcement today on his Portland Arts Watch blog, where for the past year or so he’s, well, kept watch on the arts in Portland. Lots of terrific ideas and elegant writing have spun out of PAW in its print and online versions.
Truth is, though, Barry’s been doing this sort of thing for the past quarter-century at the O, where he and I worked together pretty much all that time until I left two years ago. There are still a few editors there who can’t tell us apart. The biggest difference: Barry did a better job of keeping his cool when bureaucratic insanity struck.
Sometimes he was my editor, sometimes I was his editor, sometimes he rolled up his sleeves and cooked up a big pot of Kentucky burgoo. Always we were friends and colleagues, talking things over, parsing the paper and the arts scene, coming up with plots to Save the Journalism Business that never got out of the batter’s box, much less to first base.
Barry wrote — continues to write — about art, theater, dance, architecture, planning, music, books and other things with wit and insight. Art Scatter readers have seen plenty of evidence of that in his many posts here: Just click his name under “categories” at right and you’ll get a sense of the breadth and insights of his vision.
This is a big loss for The Oregonian, which like most newspapers continues to shrink precipitously. A lot of gloating’s going on about that in a lot of corners of the blogosphere, but in fact it’s an American tragedy. Without the good, hard, basic reporting that newspapers for all their flaws have done better than anyone else, this fragile experiment called the American Democracy stands a much lesser chance of thriving or surviving. And without the newspapers, where will all the blogospheric pontificators — me included — get our raw material?
Barry’s departure is also a big loss, at least temporarily, for Portland’s arts scene. But this is no retirement. It’s a recalibration. Barry has ideas — plenty of ‘em — and we’ll let him spin them out himself when he’s good and ready. Who knows? Maybe he’ll even post something on Art Scatter!
Welcome to the outside world, Barry. The water’s fine.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Since the OregonLive! site defeated my attempts to comment there (exquisite irony, that), I’m grateful to Mr. Scatter for the opportunity to post here instead. And say that I have no doubt that Barry’s x-ray vision will continue to illuminate our appreciation of the arts here in Portland and beyond. “Recalibration” is the perfect word, Art; I am looking forward to seeing what new avenues Barry explores in the near future. Congratulations, Mr. Johnson.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Having been edited by both Barry and Bob for the past oh dear lord twenty years, I must add my two bits worth here in tribute to both of them. It has been a privilege to work with both at the O; it remains a privilege here at Art Scatter. And I too must sit upon the ground and mourn the death of newspapers; the online press is all well and good, but there is something intangible about it, literally and metaphorically–you can’t get mad at it and jump up and down on the editorial page as my late husband was wont to do during the Vietnam war. In any case, I join with Bob in welcoming Barry to the outside world; come jump in the leaves before they get wet, and indeed, the water’s fine!
November 5th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I’m another who has been reading Barry, and Bob for that matter, since they started writing on the arts in the late 70s (I think it was). Both have reviewed my work, always fairly, and when Barry was at WW, he was my editor a few times. Gentleman, this feels like the nail in the coffin of a certain era here. I’m one of those dinosaurs (I guess) who prefers the mid-70s-80s scene to what followed but I liked the fact that Bob and Barry were still around in the NEWSPAPER, that other dinosaur (?). I miss Storefront. I miss Peter Fornara. Well, I digress. I’m sure Barry will find a medium in which to continue his good work, just as Bob has. As a matter of fact, cyberspace has allowed Bob to break out with great riffs much more than the limited confines of the paper ever did, so there is a positive aspect to these changes, too. May Barry find a similar liberation in the near future. Gentlemen, I’m really glad I was in Portland when you guys were writing for the paper. The beat goes on.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:11 am
p.s. Bob, I would like to congratulate you for not keeping your cool “when bureaucratic insanity struck.” I like that.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Note to Barry. You’re such a gentleman and a great writer. I’m looking forward to what you do next. You are an inspired writer. … LaValle