So Long, Scrivener

It is with no small amount of selfish regret that we bid a fond farewell to Eric Scott Campbell, late of The Tribune.

Within weeks of his arrival, we knew Eric would not be long for our town. And we also knew we would regret it when he was gone.

Through a series of coincidences, Campbell drifted into our town just as the new crew were rebuilding the tattered reputation of the newspaper. We are told that while his spouse was completing professional training, Eric was supporting himself playing poker. The fact that he proceeded to stink up the place when he entered the local poker tournament is no reason to doubt that he didn't need to work as hard as he did as a reporter.

In short, we knew we would have Eric around for only a short time. Fortunately for all of us, the city was his beat, particularly city government. In most respects, he performed at the top of the news game. He reported. He did not editorialize. His questions were always direct and on point and he never fell under the influence of any single source.

We'll admit that there were times that Eric Scott Campbell didn't seem to "get it," times when his perception of a story was hard to reconcile with reality. But the mere fact that we can recall those times is an indication that his work was as good as we could have expected.

The next news operation that lands Campbell will be well-served. New Albany will miss him.

Let's hope the troika at The Tribune has lined up a replacement who comes close to the standard set by that young man.