When I was a reporter for The News & Observer several of us were standing around one afternoon shooting the bull with our publisher, Frank Daniels Jr., and we got to talking about retirement.
Frank said we would have to retire when we got to be 65 years old.
I said, “Frank, I’m not going to retire when I’m 65 and I don’t think you can make me. I think there’s a law against that.”
And Frank said, “Oh, I’ll make you alright. I’ll put you in a room by yourself and make you write obits.”
I said, “Frank, that would do it.”
Postscript: By the time I turned 65 Frank Jr. had sold The N&O to the McClatchy Co. I was 66 years and four months old when I retired and went to work full time for an attorney. And, no, I wasn’t writing obits at the end.
Coming Friday: I’m Next! And Other Snowbird Stories