Barlow Herget: Manning could’ve been a writer

I would like to add a footnote to your excellent Oct. 30 editorial “Champion of ‘a sound, basic education” appreciating Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. Manning is also an excellent writer who, I believe, could have been equally successful in that field.

I was on the Raleigh City Council when the late Mayor Avery Upchurch asked Manning to investigate and write a report on a public housing tragedy in which a mother and child died of carbon monoxide poisoning. I received my copy after 10 p.m. on a Monday before the Tuesday council meeting. Lying in bed, I thumbed through the report and then started carefully reading it like it was a John Hersey book. I couldn’t put it down (much to my wife’s annoyance), and I finished it at 2 a.m.

The writing was simple and direct, clear in its findings and facts, and built to a dramatic end. A gripping tale. It has dust on it now, but I commend it to anyone who likes good writing.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Barlow Herget: Manning could’ve been a writer."