Paul’s People, No. 96

Muriel Rubens represents an important segment of my readership: People who know how to tell a story.

Here’s an example, from Feb. 15, 2014.

Street Wise: “If you can take another story about names,” wrote Muriel Rubens. “My husband Dick and I had a little girl some years ago and named her Peri. We got a lot of teasing from our friend Sam Huppin, because we lived on Perry Street at the time of her birth. Sam told us he’d name his new baby after the street he lived on like we did. When his and Norma’s son was born, they didn’t name him Thirty-Seventh as he’d threatened, but they called him Murray instead.”

Muriel can also think on her feet.

When I was escorting her out of the newspaper building after our photo session (it was too bright to stand outside near the gargoyles), we bumped into the publisher of The Spokesman-Review.

I made some quick introductions. And then the publisher asked Muriel a question.

“Do you read his column?”

Muriel smiled, faced him and answered.

“I contribute to it.”

That she does.