Death – Page 2 of 3 – This is True

Sometimes You Lose One

Posted June 16, 2024June 16, 2014 in Death, EMS Story, Medical38 Comments

I was taking Kit to a medical appointment in town (in the next county), and there was an ambulance call. Not for us, so we continued on. Then there was a second call. Also not for us, but that meant both ambulances are now out.

A Friend in Need

Posted September 22, 2024April 28, 2014 in Away From Work, Death, Heroes52 Comments

Not quite three weeks ago (Wednesday, April 9, the day before my birthday), Kit and I stopped by the local hospital to visit a friend. James, a fellow medic, and sometimes firefighter, was also from California, evidenced by his online handle, “FFEMT1A” (a California designation: Firefighter-Emergency Medical Technician-1A; I was a plain old EMT-1A myself at first, the A designating Ambulance duty certification, which added some elements beyond the non-transporting FF designation. He had both, and was extremely proud that he dedicated most of his life to helping others in need.)

Even Non-Weird Stories Can Be Weird

Posted September 2, 2025May 6, 2013 in Death, Editorial, Trivia12 Comments

Yes, I know I’m weird. I know I see things differently than most people. I know I notice things that …um… normal people mostly wouldn’t. And I skim a lot of news stories while searching out illustrations of the Human Condition.

Thinking about Newtown

Posted December 15, 2022December 14, 2012 in Crime, Death, Editorial, Major Headlines93 Comments

Is it guns? Is it violent TV shows, movies, or video games? Is it crazy America?

Honorary Unsubscribe: Yueyue

Posted July 29, 2025October 24, 2011 in Crime, Death, Editorial, Kids/Teens, Major Headlines, Other Projects40 Comments

I don’t often copy Honorary Unsubscribe write-ups to the True site: there’s an archive for those. But I suspect readers are going to want to talk about this one, from True’s 23 October 2011 issue:

Younger Readers

Posted February 1, 2021February 21, 2011 in Death, Editorial, Kids/Teens, Reader Feedback20 Comments

There were very few comments about a tag that Jennifer put on one of her stories, about two people listening to music so loud that they couldn’t hear trains coming. There’s a real and significant reason I publish such stories, but not everyone grasps that.

Here’s the story, from True’s 6 February 2011 issue:

Psychic Pay

Posted January 28, 2021January 28, 2011 in Away From Work, Death, Editorial, EMS Story, Explainer, Medical, Reader Feedback25 Comments

I write True to make a living, yes, and it’s gratifying that enough people support the publication to make that happen. But there’s another reason, too: I want to change the world just a little bit, on both a micro and a macro scale.

Cathy in Florida

Posted May 9, 2024October 29, 2010 in Death, Giving Back, Heroes, Reader Feedback18 Comments

There were two accidentally related emails in my morning download that I’d like to tell you about. To truly appreciate what happened, though, there’s a bit of backstory. In September 2007, I ran the following reader letter in True.

Family Feud

Posted October 22, 2025September 6, 2010 in Crime, Death, Language, Photo33 Comments

Sometimes there’s a story that I “have” to publish, even though I know it just won’t make it past the spam filters, so I “can’t” put it in the email newsletter. And see below for an update.

Lessons from a Strange Death

Posted December 21, 2024November 1, 2009 in Death, Editorial, Medical, Publicity Stunt, Update43 Comments

Odd deaths are a staple story type in True, sometimes as a cautionary tale about what not to do, and sometimes as a way to point out how horribly we can treat others. This is one such case, with an update.

Tough Weekend

Posted December 2, 2020August 28, 2009 in Away From Work, Death, EMS Story28 Comments

This week I’ve been dragging after a tough weekend. “Just” two ambulance calls, but they were doozies. I was just starting to make a late breakfast Saturday morning when we got a call for a rollover just 3 miles down the road.

Bear Country Update

Posted October 14, 2025August 24, 2009 in Animals, Death, Major Headlines, Update36 Comments

An update on the Bear Story from a couple of weeks ago, about the Colorado woman and the bear.

Bear Country

Posted October 14, 2025August 10, 2009 in Animals, Death, Editorial, Explainer, Major Headlines, Obliviots/Idiots, Photo79 Comments

A few comments about this week’s lead story, about the encounter between a bear and a Colorado woman. If the location sounds somehow familiar, it’s because that’s where I live.

In the Line of Duty

Posted January 28, 2021July 27, 2009 in Away From Work, Death, Editorial, Explainer20 Comments

The county I’m in is pretty small, population-wise: about 4,200 people. (Geography-wise, it’s medium for the west: about 550 square miles.) As you might guess, there’s not much shopping in my county, so for groceries we pop into Montrose, which is a town of about 16,000, and is only 20 minutes away. (Montrose County has a population of around 34,000 in 2,240 square miles.) So we know the town pretty well.

Another April, Another Mass Shooting

Posted November 15, 2025April 3, 2009 in Crime, Death, Editorial, Major Headlines50 Comments

There was another mass shooting today, a nut with a gun at an immigration office in New York, with at least a dozen killed. Here’s what I want to know: why do these things so often happen in April?

Changes to the Honorary Unsubscribe

Posted November 14, 2025March 13, 2009 in Death, Other Projects, Reader Feedback, True Business34 Comments

Now and then, Premium subscribers — the paying customers which, I have said time and again, make True possible — get a little miffed that they get the Honorary Unsubscribe after it’s published in the free edition. Frankly, shouldn’t they get it either exclusively, or at the very least first?