Jeff Bentoff, our very good friend, sent this along and gave the OK to post it. I especially like the part about Uno cheating. Dave was a huge Uno cheater, cheater pumpkin eater.
Most people who knew Dave thought of him as the daily newspaper’s quintessential reporter who covered the courts and the DA for many years. Covered them with knowledge, smarts and heart. Accurate, dedicated, curoius. The kind of reporter every reporter should be
Dave the criminal justice reporter also helped explain Dave the man. Dave’s passion for his courts job had to do with his personal love of tackling the hardest challenge any of us face, which should be the top job of any good reporter — the revealing of truth and the pursuit of justice. That’s what drove Dave’s reporting, and that’s what Dave the man brought to the job.
For Dave, covering a case was more than about the scoop, the front-page placement, the accolades for a great story — all things Dave’s work generated. It was about finding the truth and helping serve justice. And it was about the people involved. Attorneys and judges, sometimes with agendas, sometimes good guys and women. Criminals and innocent defendants. Victims. Dave worked tirelessly to understand each of them as he put a story together. He wove their narratives into these stories. He looked for truth and found it. And he hoped the story would lead to justice.
Dave was of course more than a reporter. He was the nicest guy in the room. No agendas. Smart and funny. A little quiet, until you got him talking.
Dave was principled but not the slightest bit stuffy, arrogant or pious about his dedication to truth and justice. And his sense of humor showed it. Over many a night with friends playing the card game Uno, Dave would go to hilarious lengths to win, by secretly and illegally reducing cards in his hand. Over the course of the night, cards would be found under the table. On the kitchen countertop. The next day, cards would still be found, once under a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. He’d play his sleight of hand with the greatest poker face imaginable. Who would suspect Dave of cheating? When confronted, he’d deny. When caught, he’d deny. But ultimately, after hours of play and beers, he’d break down laughing, and so would we.
Dave enjoyed the pursuit of truth and justice, but he also just enjoyed life. There’s no justice in Dave’s early departure. His too-brief time here with us helped create a better place, for his friends and for the community. His leaving brings into focus the wonderful truths about the Dave we knew, truths that we’ll greatly miss.
