Goodbye, Gerry Braun

Published: Monday, September 15, 2008 3:33 PM PDT

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Metro columnist Gerry Braun has left The San Diego Union-Tribune, multiple sources confirmed today. His office voicemail is no longer active, referring callers to the paper's news desk.

Braun's wife, Ruth McKinnie Braun, the newspaper's "Just Fix It" columnist, will also leave the paper, accepting its buyout offer. Twenty newsroom employees have taken the buyout, which will pay them two weeks' salary for each year of service. They leave Sept. 30.

Gerry Braun started his column Feb. 21, 2007, offering these introductory words:

Now I've been asked to write a twice-weekly column from which readers will learn more about me than they gleaned from my earlier reporting, even from such timeless pieces as "Candidates outline some major positions" and "Escondido brochure probe rejected."

You see, good reporters are like medieval nuns. They reveal almost nothing. Columnists, as I understand the trade, are like aging strippers. They reveal themselves slowly, and you're thankful for the slowness.

We'll have more on this later.