Bob Caldwell, a longtime editor at the Oregonian newspaper, died Saturday, March 10, after suffering a heart attack, but the chain of events that led to his death have raised a few eyebrows as details of his last hours have began to surface.
Caldwell was at the home of a 23-year-old woman he met at Portland Community College about a year ago. The woman called 911 after Caldwell became unresponsive after the two had engaged in a sex act, the Oregonian reports. The 63-year-old was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The editorial page editor allegedly supplied the woman with money for books in exchange for sexual favors, according to the Oregonian.
A family friend originally told the newspaper that Caldwell was found in his own car.
Despite the embarrassing circumstances surrounding his death, one former Oregonian employee told media blogger Jim Romenesko that the editor was good at his craft.
Peter Carlin sent the following statement to Romenesko:
...However seamy his end, he was a fantastic newsman and one of the real gutsy, honest guys out there. Used his authority to bring up generations of journalists. Fought for good things at the paper and in the state. I hate to think all that gets ignored because of his gothic, and admittedly disturbing, end.
Additionally, a HyperVocal highlighted Caldwell's accomplishments and observed that a "post-sex cardiac arrest is a damn fine way to go out."
"For 30 years, the man made real news; it’d be a shame to remember him for landing in the tabloids,"HyperVocal wrote.
The Oregonian won a Pulitzer Prize for an editorial series titled "Oregon's Forgotten Hospital," which was featured in the section Caldwell managed, the Associated Press reports. The editorial page director had been with the paper since 1983.
Caldwell is survived by his wife and three children.