The death of Charley Martin, a fixture on Denver morning radio from the ’70s to the ’90s, was deemed important enough by Denver Post editors to put on Page 1 today. But in writing the story, Joanne Ostrow didn’t see fit to mention the cause of death.
It’s true this isn’t always done in obituaries, but Ostrow gave two broad hints that make it pretty clear Martin drank himself to death. The story mentions that “Martin’s liver failed in June,” and it quotes a fellow broadcaster as saying, “That was probably the downside of what happened to him… the fun got in the way.”
These clues, and the fact that Martin died at a relatively young 67 (say I at age 68), suggest that cirrhosis of the liver brought on by alcoholism may have been what killed him. To be clear, I have absolutely no knowledge about the man’s life or ways, I’m just another curious DP reader. Maybe I’m all wet on this.
But wouldn’t good journalism call for Ostrow to connect the dots and telling us whether Martin was known to have an alcohol problem? Or is she more of a TV-radio industry cheerleader than a journalist?
