By Maegan Clearwood
Editor-in-Chief
When the Elm editorial staff filed onto the Rose O’Neill Literary House porch for interview training this summer, the smiling man already settled into his armchair didn’t look like a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Instead of lecturing the small crowd of aspiring writers, he joked and told stories in a warm, gravely voice. Every few questions, he turned to his beloved wife Joan for a knowing glance or pat on the arm.
Two Sundays ago, a memorial service was held in his honor at Decker Theater. Like the Elm session, however, the gathering wasn’t a formal, solemn affair; rather, it was a celebration of the qualities for which Cramer was so admired.
“He was a genuine, caring, and compassionate person. He came to stories with a genuine sense of curiosity, intellectual curiosity. He cared, and he listened. And when people told him things, he saw larger truths in their lives,” said New York Times columnist Matt Bai, who participated in “The Anatomy of an Election” lecture series with Cramer this fall. “There was genius in Richard’s work, but it took no genius to understand how he managed to do it.”
Cramer won a Pulitzer in 1979 as a correspondent for The Philadelphia Enquirer, but he is best known for his monumental book about the 1988 presidential campaign, “What it Takes: The Way to the White House.” He wrote for a variety of publications, wrote and narrated several documentaries, and published a total of six books.
“Richard Ben Cramer set the bar so high in ‘What it Takes’ that only he could clear the bar,” said Patrick Henry Fellow Neal Gabler, who is teaching one of Cramer’s books in his Art of Biography class this semester. “No one else- no one – could ever write that well. You read the book in a constant state of awe at how great it is.”
Cramer passed away on Jan. 7 at the age of 62. He was a long-time resident of Chestertown with his wife, Joan Smith. Although his death was recognized nation-wide, the impact he made on his Eastern Shore community was particularly evident at his service.
“I think he was really fond of his place here, having his own property near the Chester River,” Bai said.
Cramer’s own voice opened the memorial service with a recording, a lighthearted reflection about his Jewish roots. WC history professor Adam Goodheart followed, welcoming Cramer’s many friends, family and admirers and reminding them that the afternoon was not supposed to be a somber affair.
According to Goodheart, Cramer never wanted a memorial service or funeral “where people ‘slather on the tributes.’ Like any good reporter, he never wanted to be the story. Although he wrote great stories, he didn’t want to be one. And here we all are, where Richard is the star attraction.”
Tom Horton, a friend from The Baltimore Sun, spoke about Cramer’s unconventional reporting skills, in particular when he lowered himself down an elevator shaft to listen to a closed judicial session in the 1970s.
Bai followed with a reflection of how Cramer influenced him as a friend and fellow journalist. Cramer once described Bai’s writing as “doing the Lord’s work.”
“I don’t think he was talking about just journalism or politics,” Bai said. “It’s about listening to people and telling their stories in a way that’s ennobling.”
Gov. Martin O’Malley also attended the service, and said the state flag was at half-staff in his friend’s honor.
“He was like an older brother I never had,” O’Malley said, describing him as “a complex and gentle man who loved life.”
Local musician Karen Sommerville finished the service with vocal renditions of “This Little Light of Mine” and “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” The Rose O’Neill Literary House printing press made a program for the occasion featuring a quote from Cramer’s 2000 book “Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life.”
Guests spent the rest of the afternoon in the lobby, eating and drinking in their friend’s honor and writing down their fondest memories of the late journalist.
It was an afternoon of laughter and storytelling – exactly as Cramer would have liked it.