The great, great columnist, Russell Baker, has died at 93. He sometimes reminded me a little of Mr. Rogers, with just a bit more moxie and gumption.
He wrote about the great issues of the day, and little ones we all face. Sometimes, like the senior citizen deciding if an orange was affordable, he put both together.

I used to love reading "The Observer" and "The Sunday Observer" for his quiet, yet probing insight. He could be funny as hell, and while he never actually said so, he had Mark Twain's view of being called a "Humorist"--He didn't care for it.

Still, he could, in his own way, be fierce:

"Banks," I said.

"Republicans," answered every single person. C'mon, you think people are stupid? "Banker," like "Episcopalian," is a synonym for "Republican." If the person robbing a bank or a savings and loan is holding an assault weapon, then he's a Democrat. If he doesn't need a gun to do it, he's a Republican.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/busi ... ion=Footer

I feel so old when I wonder... who will take his place?

To a generation of television watchers, he was also a familiar face as the host of “Masterpiece Theater” on PBS from 1993 to 2004, having succeeded Alistair Cooke.

I fondly remember, he replaced the irreplaceable Alistair Cooke.

Stylistically, the “Observer” examined the American scene with plain phrases that echoed Twain as they skewered the pompous. But his voice could be haunting, as in a 1974 column on older poor people in a supermarket: “Staring at 90-cent peanut butter. Taking down an orange, looking for the price, putting it back.” “Old people at the supermarket are being crushed and nobody is even screaming,” he wrote.

Humor with razor sharp observations. RIP