Just a short note to call attention to two key anniversaries that slipped by this week without notice.

Last Saturday, March 13, was the 7th anniversary of the death of George Steele, a friend and key player in the psychic life of the newsroom in the former Star-Bulletin (as distinct from it’s current incarnation).

I wrote at the time:

And George responded to something I wrote with this thought:

“it takes courage to acknowledge that you miss another living being. i admire your courage.”

I don’t feel courageous now. Just sadder and a bit lonelier.

A co-conspirator in the newsroom at the time, Blaine Fergerstrom, still has a gallery of photos of George. Those who remember George, and maybe those who don’t, might want to check it out.

And, speaking of Blaine, Thursday was the 14th anniversary of Starbulletin.com, which launched on March 18, 1996. It was developed in-house and resisted by Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser, which wouldn’t get its own online edition for several years.

That this anniversary came the same week that a Star-Bulletin mass layoff notice was filed gives the event a bitter-sweet edge.

Continued congratulations to all of those who were part of that launch.