In the wake of Norman Mailer’s death Saturday, it’s seemed like every news outlet in the city has had extended coverage of the writer’s rollicking life and his influence on American letters. But the paper Mailer helped found in 1955, The Village Voice, had surprisngly little to say.
This week’s edition of the paper contains a 1,200-word obit that starts at the bottom of a page dominated by a large cartoon. The cover, which highlights a story about the dangers of getting hit by a bus in New York, makes no mention of Mailer. But the paper did run a two-page spread on longtime Voice photographer Fred McDarrah who passed away last week–which it did flag on the cover.
Voice editor Tony Ortega said that he decided "to go slow" on Mailer coverage since McDarrah passed away.
"Mailer definitely founded this newspaper, but he had a short relationship with it," Mr. Ortega told The Observer this afternoon. "Fred was at this paper for over 30 years and was on the masthead till the day he passed away. We didn’t want to overshadow Fred."
"We’re gonna do Mailer next week," he continued. "There was no shortage of Mailer pieces this week."
He said Tom Robbins and Tony Millionaire will both have pieces in next week’s paper.
