Monday, May 13, 2013

Another Favorite Leaves the Scene

One of the chief reasons I subscribed (note the past tense) to Barron's was to read Alan Abelson. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who missed his penetrating observations:
Alan Abelson passed away last week at the age of 87, and his absence from this column over the past few months has been noticed by its legions of loyal readers. We fielded scores of inquiries from folks whose weekends invariably started by turning to Alan's column. They clearly missed the enlightenment and sheer enjoyment he provided.
Over the 46 years that he had been writing for Barron's he had accumulated a vast array of sources that furnished insights on finance, the economy, and markets that were not available elsewhere. But what made his column a must-read was its dry humor. Here is Alan Abelson on the fiscal cliff negotiations:
While the world waited with bated breath for resolution of the bitter battle of the fiscal cliff, the telling moment of that monumental clash between the warring parties was an exchange a few steps removed from the Oval Office between the speaker of the House, John Boehner, and his counterpart in the Senate, Harry Reid. It was a chance encounter. Reid, a few hours earlier, had delivered a speech on the Senate floor excoriating Boehner for refusing to bring measures for a vote in the chamber he has putative control over, measures that would have averted a potentially disastrous plunge by the economy into the abyss. Still boiling with indignation, Boehner jabbed a finger at Reid and snarled "Go f--- yourself." (We can't repeat verbatim what he suggested Reid do; we are, after all, a family magazine. Suffice it to say it's an act that requires a degree of athleticism beyond that possessed by most mortals.)
We can't imagine another business publication daring to present the same content so amusingly without, er, going over the cliff. Another unique voice has left the scene. R.I.P. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

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