My Year of Turning 50

Someone found this blog by searching “turning 50 jokes.” Boy, was he disappointed…recently all my pants have shrunk, which either says something about my laundry skills or eating habits…I wish I could remember all the words to the song “16 Tons,” which oddly is something we’ve sung to ABC since she was a baby…I’m another [...]

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That’s the words that are on the card given out during Julia Campbell’s funeral service yesterday in Fairfax, Va. It should have said “loving memories,” because there were many, most prompted by a video slideshow of photos from Julia’s life. (That smile seemed ever-present; some are here in Julia’s flickr account) I was surprised to [...]

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Some news this morning. Police in the Philippines have arrested Juan Duntugan, the suspect in the murder of Julia Campbell, who was working with the Peace Corps. According to the wires, he turned himself in and said, “I did not plan to kill Ms. Campbell, harm her.” Officials quote Duntugan as saying he had an [...]

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Julia Campbell’s mother, Linda, has some wonderful quotes about her daughter in the Fairfax Connection newspaper:

“She knew what she wanted to do and she would make it happen — even as a little kid. And it served her well because she didn’t back down from things.”
“It’s such a mother and father’s dream to see their [...]

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Update at 8:50 p.m: Back with no broken bones but a few sore limbs.
ABC and I are going roller skating tonight — a passion she developed at a friend’s 7th-birthday party at the rink this past weekend. But when I was reading Al’s Morning Meeting, a journalism tip sheet from the Poynter Institute today, it [...]

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I was telling some friends and coworkers at lunch today that I am going to services for Julia Campbell this weekend. I said I felt I really wanted — needed — to be there, and mentioned a business columnist we all worked with who died late last year. We all attended that service, which was [...]

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Update from today (4/25): Catholic officials say ‘crying’ Mary statue phenomenon is natural
I was surprised a bit by my reaction today to a report on a local Orlando TV station that a replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta appeared to be shedding tears. (See some of our photos here.) I have faith enough that there are [...]

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Journalist and author David Halberstam is dead, a car crash in California. For people my age, he was one of the giants we read in college or as young reporters — a person we were afraid to imagine was the standard we would have to met — a thorough reporter, fine writer, Pulitzer winner, war [...]

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Found this blog post today, which includes a piece Julia Campbell wrote about her experiences with the Peace Corps in the Philippines. In it, Julia wrote:
“I joined the US Peace Corps, the American government’s all-volunteer service corps, because I wanted to help people. I’m just one of 7,749 volunteers in 73 countries around the world. [...]

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11Originally uploaded by maryowen.
A friend of Julia Campbell’s from her time in the Philippines has some wonderful photos of Julia on flickr, including this one. You can find the rest of them here. Notice the smile, which is how we all remember Julia.
Update on Monday (4-23-2007): Found a link to some of Julia’s flickr [...]

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