Legal Commentary

Requiem for a blogger

By Ernest Svenson

Chris Rose, for those out of town readers who might not know this, is a local writer. He started out as the 'entertainment reporter' for the Times Picayune, but his trenchant observations about celebrity phoniness soon disqualified him from that mindless assignment. Even though he wasn't from New Orleans he quickly dissolved into a local character. He reveres the bawdy inconsistencies that are the essence of New Orleans.

I was surprised that Rose never wrote about the bloggers of New Orleans. He had to be aware of their existence, especially Ashley Morris, who lashed out at Rose from time to time. Well, it turns out that Rose did know of Ashley Morris, and of Ashley's recent death. Turns out that Rose encountered him in meatspace (as bloggers often refer to the physical world). And it seems that Rose understood what caused Ashley's death: "he was huge and he lived too large and laughed too loud and that kind of behavior can kill a man."

No doubt.

I'm glad to know that Rose met and appreciated Ashley for who he really was. Still, on behalf of Ashley, I do have to take issue with one aspect of Rose's tribute. It would be wrong to lump Ashley into a group that Rose calls 'amateur curmudgeons.' Ashley struck me as a pretty serious curmudgeon, one easily misjudged by those who live comfortably in the superficial world.

Full post as published by Ernie the Attorney on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).