Mr. Roadshow

There's one feature in the San Jose Mercury News I read unfailingly, and that's the local transport Q&A column, written by reporter Gary Richards, who gave the column, and himself, the moniker Mr. Roadshow. It's been very useful for anyone who needs to get around the local area, covering construction closures, fields of potholes needing repair, traffic-calming measures, dangerous intersections, commute patterns, and mass transit also: schedule changes, planned improvements, etc. Also ancillary matters for drivers like tips on how to get a smog check or get an appointment to renew your license.

There were times I wanted to write in myself about something or other, but I never did, for fear he would associate my name with that of my brother, who used to write him regularly offering specious proofs that carpool lanes were illogical.

In recent years Mr. Roadshow had become chronically ill and had to cut back his column to a couple of days a week. He could no longer drive, and his trips to check matters out in the field had to be chauffeured by his wife, Jan, whom he dubbed Mrs. Roadshow. She made her own occasional contributions to the discourse.

Today we learned that Gary Richards died on Sunday, the day his last column appeared. We salute his memory, and hope that his work will be carried on somehow.