Kayaking Accidents Claims Post Copy Editor

The Metro Section’s B2 today features a tragedy that must hit home for the newsroom: The paper’s own John Francis Mullen died yesterday in a West Virginia kayaking accident.

An experienced kayaker who often wrote about his experiences for the paper, Mullen, 37, was kayaking on the Tygart River in Valley Falls State Park in an area so hazardous that paddlers must sign a release before entering. He was caught underwater after going over a waterfall, the paper reported.

According to the obituary, Mullen had worked full time as a copy editor at the Post since 2000 and part time since 1993. Executive Editor Len Downie described Mullen as “a respected editor” who was “very popular with his colleagues” in an email to the staff. “He will be sorely missed in the newsroom and by readers who shared his devotion to white water,” Downie wrote.

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