By: Deb Leekoff

Deb Leekoff — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:43:55 +0000

I had a short visit with Owen Canfield this afternoon (Monday) at the Conklin Building on the Hartford Hospital campus – with permission from a son of his who was in attendance.
I believe the doctor was there to sign him out just as my visit was ending and Owen will be going closer to his Torrington home base for his physical rehabilitation from his injuries.
His memory is amazing. He had trouble identifying me at first because I wasn’t wearing my customary eyeglasses from years ago, I’m considerably heavier and I walk with a quad cane. Finally, he said, Oh, you’re “Debbie,” which is a nickname that only my oldest friends and associates remember me by – and a name that I only allow people of his (and my) generation to still use. He also remembered that I had done a late shift in the composing room when The Courant was still using “hot type” to publish and that Jim McKee from the composing room had given me a short ride on his motorcycle along a short stretch of Broad Street toward Farmington Avenue, before returning me to the area near the front of The Courant. This was when nightside workers had some secure parking near the front of the building.
It’s all true, I did nothing to be embarrassed about then or now so you all can forget about trying to blackmail me!
What a great visit and what an amazing trip down memory lane!
Don’t meet up with Owen if you have any deep, dark secrets that you want to keep hidden!
Owen, himself, chose to make the visit more about me than about him. The newsman and columnist was trying not to be the news.
Obviously, the long-ago motorcycle caper was the most memorable thing about my Courant career. … Sigh
deb

Comments on: Owen Canfield On The Move

By: Deb Leekoff