Sunday morning I was reading an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s opinion section written by Gerry Johnson about the Seattle Commons:

New life emerges in wake of Seattle Commons’ failure

There was a reference to the “late” John Hinterberger, who originally floated the idea of the Commons, and suddenly I was in shock. John Hinterberger died? When? How come I never heard of it?

Hinterberger was a longtime columnist and restaurant critic for the Seattle Times. Then he became an excellent radio talk show host for KING AM, until he suddenly had a stroke and had to step down.

He also started Hinterberger’s Alley, a collection of fine restaurants exhibiting at The Bite of Seattle, proceeds which went to his favorite charity.

I immediately Googled his name in an attempt to see how and when he died. I couldn’t imagine that he could have died without my knowing it. I came up with many restaurant reviews that quoted Mr. Hinterberger, but nothing about his death. The mystery thickened.

So I sent a letter to my friend Michael Hood who does blatherWatch, the blog that listens to talk radio so you don’t have to. He passed my email onto Mr. Hinterberger’s successor at the Times who sent the following reply:

Hey, lovey. It was an ERROR (a PI error, I might
add: it appeared in
their Sunday OP-ED page in our paper). When I saw
it, I called him at
home and asked whether “the rumors of his demise
have been greatly
exaggerated.” We had a good laugh, and he told me
that his (former)
“producer”
Barbara, had called him that morning to let him know
of his “demise.”

So Mr. Hinterberger is not dead. I am very happy to hear that.

The lesson here is obvious, you CANNOT believe everything you read in the newspaper, even the P.I. The late Dori Monson would say especially not the P.I.

ADDENDUM

The P.I. has printed a retraction in the newspaper and in the linked article, but now they are misspelling the word “deceased.” Jeez. I know things are tough at the P.I. but can’t they afford a proof-reader and fact- checker?