The tumblers in my head have a tendency to boil down stories into three or four words.
We call them headlines.
Regardless of how complicated a story might be, I know that if it is going to be our lead story it likely will need to be boiled down to maybe four words.
That's not always an easy task.
Today's front page is an exception.
When the gentleman first called me to tell me about the way the Ridley Park community had opened its hearts - and wallets - to help the Dugan family after their home was struck by lightning during a recent storm and heavily damaged in the subsequent fire, I knew that it would be a good story.
It also coincided with a long holiday weekend. With the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday, it meant we faced the prospect of trying to develop content for five days through the weekend with just a skeleton staff.
That's why I decided to hold the story about the Dugans until this morning. But there was another reason as well. I loved the headline.
We have been barraged with ads since spring assuring us that all was well at the Jersey shore and the doors were open for summer visitors. Everywhere you looked, there was Gov. Chris Christie assuring us that the famed Jersey shore was "Stronger than the storm."
The advertising jingle has been stuck in my head for weeks now.
So as soon as I head the details of the Dugans' plight, I envisioned a front page that looks remarkably like this morning's Page One.
Stronger than the storm.
Good for Ridley Park. Good for the Dugans.
And certainly good for a cranky old editor with a penchant for breaking down stories into four words.
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