Al Martinez's weekly column to end Jan. 19*
The announcement to Times staff from Editor Russ Stanton:
Al Martinez is not retiring, but his weekly column is. Al's last column in the California section will appear on Monday, Jan. 19. Al has been a member of our staff for 28 years and a columnist since 1984. We are working with him on some ideas so that his legacy of insight, stylish writing and passion for the underdog will continue to appear in both the paper and on the website.
All aspects of the human condition inspire Al's work, from life in Topanga Canyon to the battlefields of Iraq. He contributed to three Pultizer Prize-winning efforts at The Times and was nominated for a 1992 Emmy for a CBS TV movie. In 2002, the California Chicano News Media Association named him Print Journalist of the Year, and the Society of Professional Journalists chose him as Journalist of the Year in 1996. Other honors include a 1988 Ernie Pyle Award and a 1988 National Headliner Award.
We plan to honor Al with a thank-you party in the near future; please watch this space for details.
*Update: California Editor David Lauter explains the reasons for the decision in a note sent to readers over the weekend.
So Al Martinez has effectively been axed.
That means one of the final reasons for me to subscribe to The Times will soon be history.
If you really did not want to publish a newspaper, I'm not sure why you bothered to buy one of the nation's foremost print outlets. I guess it has to be the New York Times from now on. Maybe the Twitterers, who cannot read or spell real English anyway, will replace us in your ranks of former loyal readers.
Posted by: john Dorr | January 09, 2009 at 02:44 PM
The Times without Al Martinez is like a hamburger without the beef. How does the Times expect to draw more readers by slimming down the features. All hard news all the time is great for hard news junkies but there needs to be spice for the rest of us, regardless of the political slant. However, since the die apparently is cast, the Martinez years have been part of my Times reading enjoyment. Thank you Elmer. What's next to go, the crossword puzzle, TV listings, the editorial and op-ed page or Doonsbury.
Posted by: erwin speakman | January 09, 2009 at 02:44 PM
I didn't always agree with Al and thank goodness for those would have been dull columns indeed if I did but I always enjoyed reading his take on the world. You will be sorely missed bud, Vaya con Dios.
Posted by: Vic | January 09, 2009 at 02:45 PM
this news is unbelievable! what is wrong with your newspaper? i tell you, this is not the way i anticipated the world to be as a teen in the 60's. it is almost a joke that thomas paine wrote the words "these are the times that try men's souls" back in his time. would he laugh at how applicable that quote is for today?
Posted by: lana erwin | January 11, 2009 at 04:34 PM
what? who's next? Steve Lopez? Pat Morrison? Why don't they just re-name the paper and get it over with. Maybe a symbol would be appropriate, so we could talk about "The Paper Formerly Known as the L.A. Times."
Posted by: tarbubble | January 11, 2009 at 04:35 PM
So long Al,
The last time they did this I wrote to the editor, publisher, etc and you came back for a little while. Now so much else has been cut , I doubt that you even want to stay.
When the institutional memory is gone, is there still value and content left? How much Joel Stein can anyone take?
Posted by: John Brooks | January 11, 2009 at 04:35 PM
The Shut-down of Los Angeles: Rest in Pieces
Turn off the lights on the Hollywood sign,
Pick Lakers and Dodgers to crumble
Close up the fine shops on Rodeo Drive
Let Bruins and Trojans both fumble.
Tell all the tourists to pack up and split
Make Disneyland shut down the park
Ban all the freeways and bankrupt the malls
Have restaurants close before dark.
Nail up the doors of Grauman’s Chinese,
Board up Spector’s big manse in San Dimas
But don’t break the hearts of your most faithful readers
By axing our own Al Martinez.
Posted by: Sandy Robbins Paz | January 11, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Al Martinez has been my favorite columnist for well over 20 years. I've followed his L A Times column from where ever we've lived--from L. A. to WA to K. S. A to IN and before I could read it online, I would go to extreme means in order to get my hands on a copy of the paper. Without his column, there is no heart, no character, no reason to go out of my way to read the L. A. Times. I feel that strongly. Letting go of him will change the Times into Something Else, and it isn't for the good of Southern Californians...
Posted by: Cathy Drobny | January 11, 2009 at 04:37 PM
Shame on The Los Angeles Times! Al Martinez and Steve Lopez are the two best reasons to read the paper. I moved to California in 1984 and started getting The Times 7 days a week (still do but now it's iffy). I discovered Al Martinez and he became my favorite columnist - I never missed anything he wrote. Right now I'm feeling devastated that come January 19 his column won't be there to kick off my week. It boggles my mind - it's not like he writes a daily column. C'mon guys - it's one day a week and he's the heart and soul of the paper. If he moves to another newspaper, then I move with him. I''m starting to believe that The Times is more interested in hiring schlock writers because they're cheaper and that they've forgotten about quality. If you let him go, you deserve to lose it all. Not everyone wants to sit in front of a computer and read the news or watch soundbytes on television. I love to sit and read what's happening throughout the world, the U.S. and locally. On Mondays, I would read the paper practically cover to cover but I saved Al's column for last so I could savor it with my last cup of coffe. I felt fortified and ready to face the day. Now I no longer want a second cup - thanks for nothing!
Posted by: Nanci Cone | January 11, 2009 at 04:37 PM
Would you have fired Jack Smith or Jim Murray, too? Luckily for his fans, writing seems to be as integral to Al Martinez as breathing, so we can find him on his blog and in his new books. You've now removed my only reason for reading the LAT online. Way to go.
Posted by: Suzanne | January 11, 2009 at 04:38 PM
What is this paper coming to? I bet you WOULD have fired Jack Smith and Jim Murray...
And after Al's column today you really want to kick him while he is down!!!
Posted by: Diane | January 12, 2009 at 04:24 PM
I guess I'm selfish, but honestly, with all the evil stuff going on and reported in the LA Times, I've always looked forward to an Al Martinez fix - He's more welcome than a spa or massage - and maybe even better than one of his favorite martinis.
We love him, and kinda hope you feel ashamed of yourselves for showing him the exit, especially at this time.
Sincerely,
Lori Olsen, aka grami
Posted by: Lori Olsen | January 14, 2009 at 06:23 PM
Al Martinez is out? Steve Lopez is the ONLY thing now between me and cancelling your paper!
Posted by: Linda Thomas | January 15, 2009 at 07:24 AM
Little by little, the Times has eliminated excellence and replaced it with mediocrity. I’ve been a subscriber for forty years, and I scarcely recognize the paper anymore. You seem to have no understanding of who your core readership is, and why we choose to support a newspaper with our subscription dollars. Here’s a clue: it ain’t the “Image” section.
Now you fire a writer who’s been with you for 28 years. Not only do you lack taste, discernment and business acumen, you lack heart. You should be ashamed.
Posted by: Pat van Hartesveldt | January 15, 2009 at 10:51 AM
I guess I am not surprised that Al Martinez will no longer be writing the best column in your newspaper. I may be a bit biased because Al wrote an article many years ago called Days of Drums and Carnivals which he started with "I was talking to Bob Cook yesterday". Bob is my late husband who was a Korean War vet and he and Al had some memories in common. I spoke with Al after my husband died and he was the kindest man . I have read his column faithfully ever since and was saddened and then gladdened when he left but came back last year. Now I am very sad again and like some of your other customers, I may have to finally cancel the paper. His articles were always insightful and kind to those of us who were not always in the best of shape and for this, I will always be grateful.
Posted by: Arlene Cook | January 15, 2009 at 11:28 AM
This is ridiculous!!!! You did this before and I was about to cancel my subscription but I finally adapted to 1x a week. I would imagine that now he must be saying 'to hell with you guys'. The LA Times is becoming a soulless skeleton of its former self! I will probably cancel my subscription (I can get most of the info on NPR) and just buy a single copy when Steve Lopez' column appears...until you fire him too!
Posted by: Dolores | January 16, 2009 at 04:40 PM
I subscribed to the LAT the day I moved to CA in 1994. I've never canceled and I am extremely attached to this paper. HOWEVER, this is deplorable to ax Al Martinez's column again.
I sure hope the Times pays Steve Lopez a good salary because the minute he gets axed your customer service agents are going to be swamped with calls of subscriber cancellations.
Have the editors stopped to think that people like myself who work at a desk computer or internet for a living 8 hours a day do not want to read the paper online?
Receiving the paper gives us a break from the office eye strain. Why can't you charge to read LAT online like the NY Times does? A company can not make money by giving things away for free. It's time the Tribune management gets a clue. Firing reporters is not the way to make a profit!
Posted by: Since 1994 | January 16, 2009 at 07:10 PM