All language subtitles for Lou Grant s05e16 Obituary

Hello, I'm calling from the trip.

I'd like to confirm a quote.

Go.

Hi.

Hi. What are you doing here?

We're near Wachowski.

And they just catch me in Florida?

Yes. And that's where I got a call
before they go to lunch.

I thought Ted let you out of bed so
early.

Lamb. A little joke there.

I'm still a loser, okay?

Let me help you.

An old college friend of mine was just
made chief of police in Davistown,

Florida.

You okay now? Thanks.

Hello, little brother.

Couldn't do it without you.

Ted? How you doing, pal?

All right. I didn't think you'd be in
until this afternoon.

Neither did I. My racquetball game got
canceled.

I'm sorry. The club warming up when
Senator Collins called said he had the

Oh, my thing. Oh, you're pretty.

Cream again. Right.

There's Susan Gallagher there. Fine,
I'll hold.

Hi, Billy.

Hi, Ben.

Oh, boy, I think it's the holes for
these.

Tell her it's Billy Newman. I promise
you she'll talk to me.

What do you got there?

Oh, just a little something.

Hey, Ben, come here.

Will you let me know what's going on?

Oh, I'd be glad to.

I've been going back and forth alone.

You know, if the council votes against
rent control, they'll just hang

themselves.

I could get to life a story about them
twisting the breeze. Morning.

Morning. On the way to Modesto.

Don't forget to write.

It's a riot in a safe prison.

500 prisoners in the yard, 20 guard
postings, one already killed.

When did this happen? This morning.

It just came over the wire.

It's been a while since I've found a
communication.

Prisoners want to talk to the media.
They say they'll exchange one hostage

every interview with a reporter.

That's 150 reporters.

Glad you're here. We'll get you right up
there.

I think the senator had the flu.

Flu? Can I talk to you? Not this month.
It has to be now.

I just wanted to remind you we had a
deal. The next statewide story was mine.

What about the spy who escaped,
Warshawski? I was the first one to get

lawyer in Florida. If they extradite him
to L .A., I got an exclusive.

How'd you do that?

The old girl network.

You know I want to expand beyond Metro,
and this prison ride is the perfect

stepping stone.

Pomeroy's already on his way. Because he
got to you first. I was two feet behind

him. No, it's because he's very
experienced and very good.

He covered Attica and Santa Fe. He's the
first one I would have called.

I won't get experienced if I don't get
experienced.

Prison ride. I heard about it in the
elevator. Send someone up there fast.

There's no commercial carrier out about
that.

With Helen Patterson?

is going to have to schlep up there.

I promise.

Yeah, on your grandmother's chest pie.

We'll do it. Uh -huh. As soon as I get
back. Okay, bye, Parker.

Hello, who is this?

Lou Grant, Miss Patterson, Metro Editor
of the Tribune. You don't know me, but

you once met our M .E., Charlie Hill, at
the press club. Lou, I'm in a hurry.

I know you're flying up to Modesto.

Oh, to make the wire?

We need to get some people up there, and
we're in a jam.

Can we hitch a ride with you? Rather
like General Montgomery hitching a ride

with Rome.

We are competitors, you and I.

West Coast Daily, the news magazine.

Look, I like to be first on the scene.
You get a better motel room, right?

Away from the ice machine.

Or close to it. Depends on your point of
view.

Look, we'll even pick up the tab for the
charter. How's that?

No doubt.

Put in a giant finger, I'll owe you.

of what they could possibly amount to.

Here's something I really didn't want to
bring up.

Stan Friday, the guy that had the job
before you?

I remember Stan.

I saved his foot on the fluts in 77.

The cover you ran of the cars floating
down Laurel Canyon was by a trip post

hoc. Stan's kid missed it. I let him use
our stuff.

Oh, I'm paying back a five -year -old
debt, right?

Look at it this way.

You'll have someone on the plane to play
cards with. I hate cards.

How do you person that by 12?

Uh, it might be two persons.

Two?

Thank you very... March, Ellen.
Remember, I owe you for this.

I'm writing it down.

Billy, you're going with Ben.

We'll get Fulham for the wires. Great,
Lou. Thanks a lot. I've got to change

clothes in my car.

What's that all about?

They're putting it there for both of
you.

Oh, I don't think so.

Look, get up there, check it out, and
let us know. Then we'll reassess, all

right? Hey, come on. I got up ten
minutes ago. I'll give you a ride.

Will you folks hand and tell him I'll
call?

The trip has failed.

Don't I get a shot at it? I hear the
line started at 7 .30 a .m. You got a

Allergies. I could get out of bed this
morning.

You're getting soft.

You'll feel better when you see what
Donovan had for you from the

Dad.

What is it?

The Julian Sphinx Moss is in danger of
extinction. You're joking.

He is not.

It's the hottest bug story we've had in
months.

Come on, Rossi. It's the bee's knees.

in Unicom Clay.

What on earth are you doing here? Trying
to get the hell up to Modesto. I hear

you've got the only ride.

I could be making money on this flight.

Ben Pomeroy, Billy Newman, from the
trip.

Bob O 'Brien.

How are you, Bob? I'm glad to meet you.
Your book was the one that made me

finally understand what was going on in
Vietnam. I'm really pleased to meet you.

Thank you. That's very kind.

Can we squeeze on one more?

That's a four -seater. We've got a six
-seater coming in from Tahoe in about

hours.

Sorry, Bob.

Just can't take the time.

Luck of the Irish.

Good to see you.

Bye.

Go ahead.

and what barley field in Kern County had
only lived to seven days.

They thought it was extinct for 50
years, but it was rediscovered in 1978.

Scientists have to keep its breeding
ground a secret because for years

collectors have been searching for this
one specific moth species.

I mean, it's a great adventure story.

Just don't take any wool sweaters with
you.

Think you can handle this animal? Sure,
why not?

Well, last week you missed that hostage
released at the liquor store.

Yeah, the cops wouldn't let us behind
their lines.

And yesterday, that congressman got away
from you somehow.

Bad luck.

What do you think I should have done?

I think you could have been a little
more aggressive.

They're bringing the spy back to L .A.
tonight, Wachowski.

Oh, we got him.

Really?

1493 Victor, Evanston Unicom, over.

Do not proceed to active runway need you
to return to ramp one of your

passengers has to get off over

Don't be mad at me. I gotta be mad at
somebody.

I'll be honest with you. I really had to
rev myself up to fight for this story.

I knew Pomeroy had it locked like he
always does. And when you said yes, I

so terrific. Like I'd finally won one
over Mr.

Macho Reporter.

This story sounds glamorous. But do you
know what he's doing right now?

Standing in the rain, drinking cold
coffee, waiting for a bunch of

to stop hacking each other to death.

Pretty close to heaven, huh?

Charlie, we want to talk to you about
the Warshawski spy thing.

Charlie?

Bad news.

Terrible news.

I just heard from the airport.

Plane we charted went down over the
mountains a couple hours ago.

Survivor?

No survivors.

Oh, my God.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here
on A &E.

Inches of beer on that plane?

I was on that plane.

It was about time, I guess.

You were lucky.

It was fate. Stop talking about it. I
can't believe you're arguing about this.

What difference does it make?

Here's all they had on Ben in that
personnel file.

I can't.

Ben Pomeroy.

Born Manhattan, August 4th, 1940.

Mother, Ingrid Sexton.

Father, Judge Samuel Pomeroy.

First Circuit Court, Long Island.

Hobby?

Needlepoint and nude volleyball.

Wise guy.

Has anybody called Ted?

Oh, my God. He's gonna think I was on
that plane. I gotta call Ted.

All hell's breaking loose in Modesto,
you know.

I'm gonna have to send somebody else up
there.

Don't look at me like that. You were
thinking of this.

It's me.

I'm all right. I'm okay.

A plane went down, didn't you hear?

Yeah.

I was on it, but I got off before it
left.

I'm okay.

Nobody. Everybody was killed.

They don't know what happened yet. Could
you hold on to the limit?

It used to range 37 miles up and down
the sandhills of the Pacific shoreline.

Now it's been reduced to a tiny plot in
the middle of an oil refinery.

But a local butterfly protection society
convinced the oil company to fence off

the habitat to save the species.

So that's where it lives, in this tiny
little island in the middle of the

asphalt. Too bad.

Well, that's the way the world would
look in the year 2000.

Only the weed species will survive.

You won't see a red wolf or bald eagle
in the wild.

It'll be you and me, hopefully.

Cockroaches, mosquitoes, and dandelions.

Here we are.

What's so important about this moth? I
mean, what would happen if it didn't

quite make it? Jeez, Rothy.

I mean it.

Other animals would die, too, and
plants.

Ecosystems would be destroyed. Actually,
it's hard to make a case for the

individual species.

I can't tell you what the ecological
consequences would be if the Julian

moth became extinct.

Why not?

But we simply don't know enough about
this particular moth.

There are 10 billion species of plants
and animals on Earth.

Of those, only a million and a half even
have names.

That's how much we don't know.

Boy, I thought you guys had that stuff
wrapped.

The species, like this, are becoming
extinct even before we discover them.

Organisms are disappearing before we
know how they can be useful to

Useful how?

Oh, gosh.

Let's see.

But here.

Here's a butterfly from the Orient that
contains a tumor -reducing compound.

Armadillos are becoming important in the
study of leprosy.

A South American rodent, the capybara,
has an anti -leukemia agent in its

And these things have been found just in
the last 20 years.

What about this, Mark? What's its
importance?

Look, I understand the instinct to
relate everything to man.

And what can this organism do for us?

But we really are part of the game.

The fewer species there are, the poorer
our lives will be. You mean people won't

get to look at butterflies anymore?

Look, endangered species like these are
symptoms of endangered biological

resources.

The demise of the Julian Sphinx moth is
just another quietly stated subtle

little warning from nature.

Pay attention.

Now.

I suppose.

I don't know why I agreed to this.

Why should I give the eulogy? I'm the
one responsible.

I won't have you blaming yourself.

Pretty hard not to.

Charlie, I could have said charter a
plane just as easily as you.

Yeah, but you didn't. It was a fluke.

I think the crash is due to icing
conditions, but they won't know for

It's a few hours.

I'd have waited for a commercial flight.

Shouldn't have pushed it. They were
running for a heartbreaking story. Any

of us would have gotten on that plane.

Anything you say at that memorial
service would be more satisfying than

obituaries I read in the Tribune.

What's wrong with them? I didn't get
anything from what you ran except the

usual. This one was a crack reporter.

They had an independent woman and a
brilliant interviewer. And this one

famous book. Isn't there more?

I guess because they were reporters, we
backed off.

These reporters died trying to get a
story. That's a story.

I want to know who they were, why they
were on that plane.

I agree with Charlie's instinct. I'd be
afraid of that. It's self -serving.

Well, I don't understand, you're clear.

These are tough, competitive reporters.

Each of them must have been driven. Why
look too closely?

There may be things about ourselves as
journalists we'd rather not find out.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here
on A &E.

Lou, Art told me about the feature on
Palmer and Patterson and O 'Brien, and I

want to be involved.

You sure you really want to put yourself
through all that?

I don't know how else I'm going to stop
having nightmares and feeling so guilty.

And to think I'm so grateful it wasn't
me and sickened and just amazed by my

dumb luck.

Why them and not me?

You're not going to figure that out in 1
,500 words.

The only way I know how to get through
this is to write about it.

Okay.

You take Pomeroy and O 'Brien.

I'll research Helen Patterson. Why?

I told her I owed her one.

I don't want you going up there with all
those followers.

Okay, I'll take a lot of pills. This is
an important story.

You'll kill yourself. You did it last
year, too, and then you're on a

for two weeks. Animal can do it alone.

Your allergic nose will thank me for it.
Okay, but you're going to hear from a

lot of this boss.

Pomeroy was the reporter's reporter.

Do you know that he also had a law
degree? Covered every war in the last 15

years. He'd go anywhere where it was
really bad.

Went to Palermo to cover the mafia,
Culiacan, Mexico to cover the drug

When the U .S. and Cambodian governments
couldn't have cared less, he hired

mercenaries to go in and retrieve the
bodies of reporters who were killed in

Cambodia.

You know what he did after the
assassination of Sadat, don't you? No,

Oh, this is famous. Why?

Well, he was in Rome on a vacation when
he first heard the news.

He does not wait a second.

He charters an executive jet. A jet,
mind you. Puts it on his credit card and

takes off for Cairo.

Knowing the paper would pay for it. I
find that hard to believe.

That the paper would pay.

It's true.

It's true. He had Mr. Pynchon eaten out
of his hand.

Nobody knew him better than I did. It's
true.

How did you get to know him?

I used to drive him to the airport a
lot, bring him back, you know, when he

in. Pretty often, he used to travel.

I'd pick up his mail, you know, take
care of his dog.

You consider Pomeroy a close friend?

Oh, great friend.

I mean, we were buddies. Like, we used
to stop by this bar at the marina where

they had this turtle race. I know that
place. It's a real single thing.

What about his wife? How did she feel
about it?

Ex -wife.

That's how.

Lance packed up Ben's things.

Yeah, that was real sweet of him. I
think I'll just go through and take the

things that mean something.

I'm sorry, where were we?

I think you were saying you were married
young.

Oh, yes, in college.

And then I majored in being the new
bride.

You know, lunch with the girlfriends.

Cooking and shopping.

That would sound bad.

I got restless.

I tried a lot of things before I opened
the cookware store, and I was lousy at

all of them.

No work.

Ben was... He was real patient with me.

He was involved with his work at the
time, wasn't he?

Yeah.

It was real difficult, Ben.

I'm sorry. Can we go someplace else?

I'm sorry. Come on.

screwed everything up.

Can you tell me?

My son decided that I was as creative as
he was.

And I wanted to do something wonderful.

That doesn't sound so unusual or so
terrible.

When I opened the cookware store, that
was the beginning of the end.

I was so busy and then said I was
neglecting him.

Suddenly we both had schedules and... At
the end of the day, Ben would bring

half the city room home with him.

All young reporters.

They thought the world of him.

But I wasn't as interested in his
friends as I should have been.

They were all 22 years old.

Didn't he understand your need to do
something on your own?

No, not very well.

It sounds like...

Never mind.

What?

I was just thinking... Maybe you outgrew
him.

I outgrew him.

No, that's impossible.

Look what he achieved.

How can what I've done ever equal that?

Lou wants moths? I'll get him moths.

So, what's on your mind?

Ben Pomeroy.

I just wanted to ask you a few
questions.

Now is not a good time.

What is this?

Reporters love to talk about him, and I
can't get one photo or one editor to

open up.

When I first got here, Pomeroy took me
under his wing, showed me the ropes.

He loved doing that, and we got along
great.

Yeah? Yeah, we did a series on Watts
together.

I remember that.

It never ran.

He wanted portraits, skylines, dawn,
dusk. I was overshooting like crazy.

You know why?

His story didn't have it. And he was
hoping the pictures would pull him out.

couldn't go to the desk and say, hell,
it's not working. I would have blown the

image.

A lot of people bought that image.

Yeah, being a winner was important to
him.

Made him a good reporter.

But it made him impossible to work with.

I feel awful saying this about a guy who
just died.

I was always very competitive with Ben
myself.

Maybe it was the man -woman thing.

You know, I never saw him with guys his
own age.

He only hung out with younger reporters.
He always had to be the teacher.

I talked to his ex -wife, and Pomeroy
was very unhappy when she started her

business. She ventured out on her own,
and he felt threatened.

Listen, he felt threatened when I told
him we didn't need another shot of Watts

Towers.

Oh, boy.

Not going to be easy to write, is it?

Guys in the city room aren't going to
like this much.

And anyway, why should I expose him? The
man is dead.

Look at it this way.

He'd have done the same for you.

I guess this one's all yours.

Don't be a sore loser, Newman.

Next time.

Then the inmates ask for you. Tell them
I send my love.

Right.

Drive carefully on your way back now.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here
on A &E.

Where's your friend Rossi?

Ah, here's Alex. He's kicked up on the
screen with a toad.

Well, I'm glad you're here.

Little pressure to get this one. I hope
this is the right week for Sphinx Moth.

Well, this isn't a place. We're still
five miles away.

But it looks like a potential for
another colony.

Where are we looking for them? They fly
close to the ground.

Or they'll be sunning themselves.

Sunning themselves? You mean like
people?

Yes. They bask in the sun until their
bodies absorb enough heat to be able to

fly. No kidding.

He's Wilbur.

This is Dennis Price. He works for the
Tribune. Hello there, Dennis.

I've read many of your articles with
great pleasure, Dr. Wilbur.

I've read yours.

I don't know what luck you've had with
the Populani guy, but I just took the

copulating pair in mint condition.

They were hill -topping on that ridge
over there.

Great. Thanks.

Have they still got you working on the
Julian Sphinx moth?

Well, that's one of my projects.

Have you found the breeding ground?

The Julian is endangered, Colonel.

Well, it's not on the endangered list.

Well, we're fighting to get it there.

Look, I can't force you, but I strongly
request that you not collect that

species. We could lose it altogether.

As you see, doctor, I'd rather wait for
a healthy population anyway.

Well, have a nice day.

That guy's one of the worst.

Big amateur collector, and all he cares
about is completing his list.

They buy catalogs and match them with
specimens.

We call them stamp collectors.

I get the feeling he really wants to go
home with a Julian Sphinx mouth today.

You bet.

Once they're on the threatened list,
that's when those guys really want him.

How much are they worth?

Perfect male?

Maybe $700.

I wanted to know how you're doing on a
triple pro ball.

Billy's got what she needs on Pomeroy,
but she's having trouble with Bob O

'Brien. He's a lot harder to track down.

From what I hear, he was a reclusive
guy. He had a drinking problem.

Billy says his life was more depressing
than his death.

Not much family. He was withdrawn,
antisocial.

She'll try to find something redeeming,
but I don't know.

Talk to Stan Bristol down in San Diego.

O 'Brien worked there while he was
writing the Vietnam book.

You know, that's the shame about O
'Brien.

Could have been a superstar.

Could have sunk into obscurity. With
him, it could have gone either way.

Okay, this will help.

When do you think you'll have the story?

Next week.

See if you can hurry it up.

on Brian for you. Oh, great. Thanks a
lot.

How you coming?

Any answers to those cosmic questions?

I wish. So far, it's all just depressing
me.

I don't want to get started on Helen
Patterson. I'll let you know.

Brad.

Don't let your editing to push you
around.

Well, this other story's mine, too. Oh.

There's a story around that won't have
your name on it.

Step on somebody's toes once upon a
time.

How

long

did you work for Ellen Patterson?

Only six months, but that's about all I
could take.

Want some cream?

No, no thanks.

What was the problem?

She wanted everything typed perfect.

You know, in a manuscript, you can get
away with whiting it out. But letters?

Forget it.

She'd make you do the whole thing over.

What was the manuscript?

It was this book she was writing on
women in prison.

I couldn't stand to read it. All those
pitiful stories.

Why couldn't she pick something
cheerful?

She was famous for her interviews with
difficult people.

Did she ever talk about that?

Not much.

She once asked me if I liked this dress
she had on.

Really? Yeah.

Well, she wanted to make the right
impression on famous people, I guess.

She didn't know how to dress.

Always the same old stuff.

You told her all that?

It tacked away, of course.

She asked me about a lot of things.

Such as?

She'd bounce ideas off me.

Like if she was writing a book or an
article, she'd ask me if I want to read

as a consumer.

Sounds like you got along.

She was kooky.

No men in her life.

Everything was so serious.

And the job just wasn't any fun.

Could I see the manuscript on prisons?

I sent it back to her son, along with
the rest of her things.

Why?

You know, to get me up on one of those
little planes.

Yes, she was the first reporter I had
rolled out in my house. I've had bad

experiences with the press.

I'm sorry to hear that.

A lot of famous events took place at
this house.

Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson. They all
came here for advice at one time or

another.

You've evidently read my biography.

Very pleased.

Actually, the best source on you is the
profile Helen Patterson wrote.

She really told it all.

Yes.

I guess you didn't like it very much
when it appeared.

To the contrary. I thought it was
marvelous.

They say she was tough.

Did you two get into some arguments?

I do remember some long -term teachings.

She seemed to fit into the background.

I grew used to having her around. I
liked her.

He was an awkward, homely type of woman
with that... That problem and all.

But she certainly knew how to listen.

Did you know her?

Only by reputation and one conversation
on the phone.

I liked her too.

God only knows what kind of life she
had.

Seems she gave it all to the people she
was interviewing.

What exactly do you think she gave you?

Understanding.

Absolutely no one knows where this
breeding ground is? Well, just the man

rediscovered the Julian Moth, the
museum, and the farmer who owns the

It's fun, actually, and he's proud of
it.

He won't even tell his kids which field
it is. Now, what do we do once we find

the Moth? Well, the Moth released a
recapture study to determine the present

population.

What's up, Taylor?

Well, I suppose we're both headed for
the same place.

No, I don't think so.

Well, a museum doesn't own that moth.

You're not the only ones that have a
right to collect it. This species will

destroyed by over -collecting. You have
no right to withhold this from the

public. I've been studying this for a
lifetime.

Don't pretend to be a scientist. You're
nothing but a selfish, greedy creep.

You've gone too far. No, you've gone too
far. Now, that's it. The study's over.

No one will see the Julian.

We're going back to L .A.

I'm just finding out my mother kept lots
of secrets.

From you?

From the world, I guess.

I was raised by my dad, you know, in
Washington, D .C.

Hardly saw my mother at all growing up.

I didn't really get to know her at all
until I came out here for college.

So she always worked, as long as you can
remember.

Oh, yeah.

I remember once she took me to
Rumpelmeyer's in New York for ice cream

other kids.

who turned out to be Caroline and John
Kennedy Jr.

She'd been doing a profile on the
president.

Was that exciting, seeing your mother as
a well -known journalist?

I guess that's about all I saw her as. I
mean, she'd visit maybe three times a

year. It was tough for a woman to have a
career and family in those days, but

she did a worse job than most.

Once you got to know her, what was she
like?

It wasn't easy for me to know her.

Maybe she wouldn't have gotten on that
plane if I'd been more insistent about

seeing her that night.

From what I know about your mother, I
don't think anything would have stopped

her. Still, it was easier not to push
it. We were just both feeling our way.

When she said she couldn't make it, I
was relieved.

Don't lay that on yourself.

Let me show you something.

I just found this yesterday.

She generally didn't let people in this
room.

I don't know why she...

She never let me see this before.

Lou Brandt will continue in a moment
here on A &E.

To Lou Brandt.

Come in.

Sorry it didn't work out.

Well, don't check out yet.

There's still a chance it might.

Keith, I've been here two days, and I'm
going back empty -handed.

You want to face my editor?

I have an idea.

It's kind of off the wall, but it might
work.

Well, I'm not the one you've got to
convince.

On a good day.

Bob could be witty, wise, best companion
you could want. Yeah.

But they were bad days?

The black hole, that's what he called
it. Just coming out of your basic black

hole, he'd say, but onward and upward.

You mean he was depressed a lot?

Well, after 20 years in the business,
Bob had evolved a certain view of

that we were selfish, petty, and
incapable of being saved.

I don't hold that opinion myself, except
during election years.

Was he married?

He was divorced twice.

Why? Drinking, maybe?

Well, his first wife said that she went
crazy because all he could worry about

was writing.

And his second wife went crazy because
all he could worry about was not

Do you have his book?

Oh, yeah.

What was he like when he was working on
this?

Oh, he worked like crazy on that for
over two years, but still didn't have

So, he took a leave of absence.

Went to New Hampshire, lived in a cabin
in the woods, and came forth with the

manuscript. That seems pretty
disciplined to somebody with a drinking

There's a paradox about Bob.

There was discipline and dedication that
went through him like a steel bar, but

also despair.

Even when the book became a bestseller?

Oh, he was high on it for a while, had
all sorts of offers, including a two

-book contract.

Which he turned down? Which he accepted,
and then had a nervous breakdown over

it. Just didn't think that he could
write another book as brilliantly as the

first. He froze.

He sank to the bottom.

Terrified. Did you see him much during
that period?

No, nobody saw him. He just dropped out.

Well, I can tell you where he went.
However, if you want to follow that dark

trail... What is the name of the ice
hockey team from St. Louis, Missouri?

Oh, I know it!

to watch that on triple power carpet

about six months ago.

Excuse me, miss, but are you talking
about Bob O 'Brien?

Yes.

Man, that wasn't fair.

I can't believe it.

And I was going to show him my outline
next week.

I'm writing a story about him.

An obituary, actually, and I need to
know what he was like when he lived

When they brought him into detox, he was
half dead.

He stabilized, and then he came here.

Turned out to be one of our more
outgoing residents.

I could relate to him because of the
booze.

But also, he understood what I was
trying to say.

What do you mean?

I mean, in my stories. He would read my
stories.

Bob eventually hired Lionel to do
research for him on prisoners who write.

Well, I've been inside a few times, so I
know.

But also, he really liked my stuff.

You mean he could take your work?

Yeah, and he had rules.

And if you didn't follow him, he
wouldn't have nothing to do with you.

Like... You had to write every day.

You had to keep a journal.

You had to make a schedule of your plot.

And then you had to put it on index
cards.

And that's what I was going to show him
next week.

Did he work with other people here as
well?

No, ma 'am.

I'm the only other writer.

So he trusted me, you see.

Trusted you? How?

I used to go over to his place and type
up stuff for him.

So he gave me an extra set of keys.

See, look.

He gave me his keys.

See, Keith is the only one who knows
where the barley field is. So if we

cars, the colonel will think he's
following Keith.

But actually, I'll be in the Jeep, and
Keith will be heading off to the field.

When do you get to take the pictures?

I lose the guy.

And that's easy on these country roads.

And then I'll meet Keith.

It's got to be this way.

These moths are only flying a few more
days.

I don't care how baroque you get, just
get the pictures.

No excuses.

Problem? I respect the right of any moth
to be happy to multiply.

Does not when it gets in the way of a
story.

You know that this planet is losing
species at the rate of one a day?

Yeah, we lost a lot of species before
man came along.

Still, I'd blow that assignment rather
than lead that guy to the moth.

You're not serious.

Sure I am. Of course, I got more guts
than animal.

And a lot more tenure.

Is this O 'Brien's system?

Oh, yes, ma 'am.

Oh, but it wasn't there last time.

It looks like the outline for a new
book.

Yeah.

Sometimes he leaves tapes for me to
transcribe.

It happened on Tuesday morning.

In other news, let's see. Woke up today
feeling clear.

Worked three hours.

Got almost through the first draft of
chapter one.

This is his journal. He kept it on tape.

She said she knew she could visit
because all I was doing was typing.

I told her never to visit when she heard
typing.

I hope I wasn't too stern with her.

I hope I was stern enough.

She lived in this house since 1918.

Told me again about the days when Orange
Grove stretched from here to the hills.

I've got to call Lionel.

Find out how he's done.

If he's good enough, maybe I can use his
piece in the book.

And the old lady reminds me, our need to
remember the past is narcotic, a

defense against the terror of the
present moment.

I think you're really captured, Paula.

You don't think I was too rough?

You described the guy the way he was.
Some people liked him, some didn't.

I did.

Nice job.

Thanks.

Of course, you edited the heart out of
my part.

Billy Newman.

Oh, hi, Ted. How was your flight?

You find any great short stops in
Sarasota?

No, I'm fine.

I'm just finishing this piece.

You really want to hear?

Okay.

I'm skipping down near the end.

Yet there was something important and
basic to journalism to the lives of the

three who died.

There was the courage and patience of
being a pro.

Fierce competition and self -doubt, too.

In the end, they chose to take a risk
because that was part of their job.

Ben Pomeroy, Helen Patterson, and Bob O
'Brien all made a choice.

The same choice over and over.

no matter how stormy their lives.

Like a needle returning steadily to a
true direction, they held a commitment

do a job well.

There's a dignity and quiet grace in
that.

Is it comfort enough for those who knew
them?

It will have to be.

Okay.

Well, Julian Sphinx Moth is alive and
well in Kern County.

Glad to hear it.

16 adults were sighted as well as 72
pupae. They counted?

Very carefully.

And I hear when they hatched or emerged
or whatever it is they do, it was real

spectacular. You hear?

No, I didn't get the pictures.

Why not?

It was a choice between leading this
maniac collector to the site and having

eventually destroy an entire species by
killing specimens and selling them or

not getting the shots.

I decided not to get the shots.

That's the third time, animal.

I could have you suspended for a week
without paying.

But I won't.

Long live the sphinx mob.

What does sex and gender mean to people
of other cultures? Look around the world

to find out in the A &E special
presentation, The Opposite Sex,

Now. A young recruit undergoes the
rigors of the police academy course.

Kurt Russell stars in Police Story, next
on AMA.