Mark Mooney
It is fitting that Maplewood resident Mark Mooney has informed us of his own passing.
Mooney was consummate reporter (a term that he preferred over “journalist” — see his last blog here). He was married to another reporter, the talented and generous Barbara Goldberg.
Local readers have been laughing and crying their way through Mooney’s chronicle of his final battle with prostate cancer, Closing in on -30-. On the blog today, one last entry was posted; it was crafted at an earlier date by Mooney.
In his self-penned obituary, Mooney writes of his love for his calling:
[I]f I were still here I would tell you that I wish I had done more work as a news reporter. Written better stories. Made more and better contacts. Skipped some of the easier pieces and done more in-depth stories. Spent more time on foreign stories. Been a better editor.
I loved being a reporter. (Journalist is kind of a lace curtain word for the job.) It’s where I met most of my best friends. It’s where I met my wife Barbara, also a reporter. It’s where I had my biggest audiences.
He also writes of his love for his wife and family and gives us a few last chuckles:
My wife Barbara Goldberg survives me and l leave greatly in her debt. I got so many more laughs than I gave. And I regret I won’t be there to comfort her as she did me in those final foggy hours.
My daughter Maura and son Paul are better looking and smarter than me, a fact which they often reminded me. I was still working on a retort at the time of this writing.
The three of them were my holy trinity.
In lieu of flowers, donate to a favorite cause. Mine was Doctors Without Borders. Or just buy a round.
Read Mooney’s parting entry here.
