As we approach the end of 2023, we can’t help but acknowledge that this was one of the most productive years in the history of the City of Falls Church. It is not possible in this small space to encompass all that has happened of a positive nature here in the last 12 months. Even as the nation has had to work overtime to stave off the onset of the terrible prospect of the end of democracy and the elevation of a horrific authoritarian alternative, work still far from over, in the modest 2.2 square miles of Falls Church and among its 15,000 people the results continue to be remarkable, and we expect it to continue into 2024.

That said, we must also acknowledge terrible losses, all quite recently, starting with the passing of the City’s first woman and four-term mayor, Carol DeLong, this fall. A worthy tribute to her from friends of the Citizens for a Better City is published elsewhere in this edition. Then there is the terrible and relatively sudden passing of Charlie Clark, the lifelong journalist whose best work, it might be said, began with his so-called retirement and the publication of numerous important books and, not the least, his series of decades-long weekly columns in this newspaper, entitled “Our Man in Arlington.”

In addition to Clark, another leading journalist and friend of Falls Church and the News-Press who has contributed enormously during his retirement, Cragg Hines, also passed away this month after a lengthy illness. Clark and Hines both attended weekly information sharing lunches of the News-Press last spring and were energetic contributors, sharing their knowledge and vitality with each other and all participants. What a loss to have them both gone so soon.

An extraordinary memorial tribute event for Clark was held last weekend at the high school of his youth, Yorktown in Arlington, attended by hundreds of his family, friends, and not the least, tons of his avid readers.

In one of many extraordinary tributes to the extraordinary life and work of Clark came from his sister, Martha Clark Franks, and her account included the following that speaks for itself:

“Charlie’s final book, published just days before the onset of the terrible illness that took him so suddenly from us, is a biography of a different kind. He wrote the life story of the local paper in which his columns on Arlington had appeared, the Falls Church News-Press. The book is journalistically straightforward in style, so much so that you might not at first recognize it for what it is – a love letter from Charlie to local journalism. It describes a local journal supporting and being supported by its community. It makes a reader feel how fantastically important that exchange of support is. That was who Charlie wanted to be. That was who he succeeded in being.”

So with Charlie Clark, Mayor DeLong and Cragg Hines, all making powerful contributions to making life itself remarkable.