Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc is the Inquirer’s 2015 Filipino of the Year, chosen in a poll conducted by the Inquirer among more than 50 editors from across its multimedia platforms.
It’s obvious how many people loved Inquirer’s late editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc. Apparently, however, there was no love lost between the icon of journalism and one embattled Philippine senator.
SOME 12 years ago, as an editorial assistant (EA) in the newsroom, I would read to LJM on the phone...
And now it begins—the realization that Letty (Jimenez-Magsanoc) has passed away.
One night in May 2014, I caught a glimpse of Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc in the newsroom on my way up the iconic Inquirer stairs to the research department where I was an intern.
I’ve forgotten how many times I’ve cried in Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc's office while she shuffled back and forth between summoning the copyboys and holding my hand.
She made the paper a priority and had the generosity to talk to you for however long it took—as long as the paper had been put to bed.
LJM worked her magic in the newsroom. No longer having her around feels like when Gandalf the Grey fell into the abyss—snatched away all too sudden, and all too soon.
Sometimes you meet a journalist so awesome you’d think she would live through the end of the world and be there to report it.
Stray golf balls, catfish of unknown provenance, and a life-size statue of the scourged Jesus Christ that roams the grounds during the wee hours are just some of the stories told by residents inside the Bautista compound in Malabon.
