A Newsman for All Seasons

One classic, written on the occasion of the murder of a prominent Miami Beach attorney:

"Harvey St. Jean had it made. He had money, a reputation as a crack criminal lawyer, and time to tee off for 18 holes at La Gorce Country Club any afternoon he wanted. Most afternoons he did.

"When he left his apartment at the Jockey Club Wednesday morning . . . he had his golf clubs in the trunk of his Cadillac. Wednesday looked like an easy day. He figured he might pick up a game late with Eddie Arcaro, the jockey. He didn't."

" He didn't!" Trillin repeated, with a laugh. "I just really thought he was the goods. So totally straight. It was hard to believe that he really did the sort of reporting where you get guys out of Death Row. He didn't come on that way. A lot of reporters who are in that line of business are obsessive personalities or egomaniacs or cynical beyond redemption."

At least five people were sprung from Florida's death house because Miller determined that they were innocent; others were freed from life sentences. In his most celebrated work, Miller pursued the wrongful and racist convictions of Wilbert Lee and Freddie Pitts for nearly a decade, through the grimmest realms of Jim Crow Florida. He was denounced, beaten and threatened with death. With his friends Warren Holmes, a lie-detector specialist, and Martin Dardis, a private eye, Miller secured a new trial for the two men -- only to see them convicted again in a sham proceeding.

Desperate, Miller wrote a book, "Invitation to a Lynching," a thrilling, sadly overlooked work, and sent the galleys to then-Gov. Reubin Askew. The governor commuted the sentences.

Years later, I wanted to buy a copy and complained to Gene that I couldn't find one.

"That's because there aren't any!" he roared, and barked his seal-like laugh. "The book bombed! But I only cared about one reader: Reubin Askew."

Not true. In his thirst for justice, in his love of a good story, in his brutal refusal to waste a word, Gene Miller cared fiercely about his readers. A generation of acolytes, working for readers across the country, would do well to remember his lessons.