“Al Goldstein Dies at 77; Made Pornography Dirtier”

That's not my headline. It's the hed on the New York Times' hilarious obituary of the founder of Screw magazine. Long before the internet brought newspapers to their knees, the industry suffered plenty of self-inflicted damage. Among the unnecessary wounds I would place the decision by big newspaper chains to turn obituaries into paid advertisements. The result has been a stream of unctuous prose authored by funeral directors and family members rendered inarticulate by grief. One of the glories of the New York Times is the standard it continues to uphold in this magnificent genre. Witness today's delicious piece on Goldstein: Mr. Goldstein did...