So long, Marko

My friend Mark Schwed has died.

The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.
Corky’s bar at 11th and Broadway.
Dan Tana’s, Stoli rocks.
Poker nights, Marlboro Lights.
Enough laughter for a lifetime.
The best kind of newspaperman.
The best kind of friend.

Here’s the story in the Palm Beach Post:

Mark Schwed, a features and news writer for The Palm Beach Post for the past three and a half years, was found dead in his apartment Thursday. He was 52 years old.

Schwed had been in apparently good health until Monday, when he called in sick. A friend in California emailed him on Tuesday and never received a response. After two days of silence, a co-worker entered the home and found his body. A cause of death has not been determined.

“We were crushed by the news,” said Post managing editor Bill Rose. “Mark was a bright light in the newsroom, a kind and helpful soul who wrote smart stories and endeared himself to those who worked with him and, often, to those he wrote about.”

Here’s a guest book for his friends