Mr. Sulzberger reports from Mulvane about a retired postman, Larry Richardson, who built a replica of San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge over the creek near his house ten years ago. He copied the design from a postcard.

Mr. Richardson is fixing to apply a new coat of paint.

But Pinch Jr. glosses over the main issue at play in the story: Why does somebody in Mulvane, Kansas want a replica of the Golden Gate bridge in his backyard? He explains that the midwest is full of folksy tourist attrations — corn palace! giant balls of twine! — but why the Golden Gate bridge and not a bridge on a different postcard?

Mr. Sulzberger's sources are Mr. Richardson, his wife, his younger brother, an 80-year-old woman in the Mulvane Senior Citizen Center and the author of a book about the Golden Gate Bridge (on background).

Lucky for Mr. Sulzberger, the art department saved the day. The story ran with a great map of the Wichita metropolitan area.

A Golden Gate Fantasy on the Kansas Prairie [NYT]

Earlier: 2009, A.G.: The Arthur Gregg Sulzberger Era Begins