Something Really Rich and Chocolate

Hotline’s Friday Feature profiles Carl Leubsdorf, the Dallas Morning News’ Washington bureau chief since the year we were born (seriously).

Although a veteran of the AP and Baltimore Sun, Leubsdorf says he got his start in journalism as a summer copy boy in the financial news department of UPI. “My main job was to get lunch for the people who tabulated manually the Stock Market prices in the pre-computer age. I did well because I was able to get everyone’s change right,” he said.

In answer to the always insightful “embarrassing on-the-job moment,” he cites “calling Mo Udall the winner in the 1976 Wisconsin primary (which Jimmy Carter won). I tried to hedge my bet by writing a lead that he had won his fight for political survival as Carter’s main rival, thereby leaving some flexibility in the wording on the numerical outcome in the very close race. Unfortunately, as a newcomer to newspapers after 15 years with the AP, I never thought about the headline. It hedged nothing and, when I realized that the exit poll data we were using was wrong and did some further tweaking of the lead, I never thought to ask about the headline. So the main edition of the Baltimore Sun went to press with a headline saying ‘Udall Wins in Wisc.’”

And just in case you need your mouth watering this Friday afternoon (and Charlie Palmer’s new deal doesn’t strike your fancy), Leubsdorf says his last meal would be dinner at Antoine’s in New Orleans, “with shrimp remoulade, beef tenderloin marchand de vin, fried potato puffs, a good French burgundy and something really rich and chocolate for dessert.” Certainly sounds like it beats the Hill cafeterias…

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