The last few weeks have been very difficult for The Malibu Times family.
A couple of weeks ago my son, Tony, had to jump from the third floor of a burning building to save his life in a house fire in which another of his housemates died. Karen and I spent days in a hospitals room in Washington D.C. at Tony’s side.
Then, over the weekend, longtime Malibu resident Bart Brodkin died, the husband of our former receptionist and all around everything, Thea Brodkin, after a long battle with cancer.
Finally, as if all bad things seem to come in threes, Jessica Linn, the 16-year-old granddaughter of our Life & Arts columnist and former editor, Pam Linn, was tragically killed in a car crash.
We all knew Jessie because there were times that she would accompany Pam while we put out the newspaper, and if it ran late, we would just make up a bed for Jessie in one of the offices. She was a bright, energetic, pretty and plucky young woman, and it’s so sad to see a life like that cut so tragically short.
Our hearts go out Thea and Pam for their loss, and to Tony for the pain he’ll have to endure while he rehabilitates. Happily the prognosis for Tony is that he’ll make an excellent recovery.