Jon Albaugh

Twenty-five years ago this morning, I was driving in Louisville to an apartment complex in search of a reluctant interview subject. It was a beautiful morning. I was listening to "Mike & Mike." Suddenly, @Espngreeny was breaking incomprehensible news. I was relieved that the person I was looking for didn't answer the door. I got back in the car and raced to The Courier-Journal office downtown, switching the radio to WHAS as confusion became shock became horror. I got into the office in time to see the towers come down in real time on TV. A sickening sight. I'm flying this morning, and the effects of that tragedy are ingrained in the experience. "Everything changed" has become a trite phrase, but it does apply to life after 9/11. Everyone who was old enough to understand remembers where they were on this morning 25 years ago. Thousands of miles from the scene, my recollections are by no means unique, other than watching the journalism unfold. At a time when journalists are losing jobs in large numbers, it's worth remembering the value of informing the public about what, why, where and how our lives are affected by events great (like 9/11) and small (the local school board). Instead of reading an AI summation of 9/11, I encourage people to read/watch some of the work done in chronicling that tragedy. Two particularly powerful pieces to follow ...