The Wall Street Journal | The New York Times | JeffreyZaslow.com
Wall Street Journal columnist and best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow died in a car crash Friday. The Journal’s Douglas Belkin and Stephen Miller write that Zaslow, who wrote the Journal’s “Moving On” column, had a “rare gift for writing about love, loss, and other life passages with humor and empathy.” They highlight some of his memorable stories and columns:
- The 1987 story in which he described his attempt to succeed Ann Landers as an advice columnist (He won, and wrote the column for 14 years.)
- “It’s Root, Root, Root For the Old Stadium: Saying Goodbye to Childhood Haunts“
- “A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime,” his 2007 column about Carnegie Mellon professor  Randy Pausch’s final lecture. He also wrote a followup about reader reaction, and later worked with Pausch on a book, “The Last Lecture.”
- His story about how he tried to create a soundtrack for his life to play on his iPod
Zaslow’s website notes several others, including:
- “Hoarders vs. Deleters: How You Handle Your Email Inbox Says a Lot About You“
- His column on the lifelong friendship among 10 women from Ames, Iowa, which he later developed into a book, “The Girls from Ames“
- His column about fathers’ difficulties in relating to their daughters, which ended with one father’s suggestion that fathers put letters in their daughters’ lunchboxes
The New York Times’ Amy Chozick, who worked with Zaslow at the Journal, also points out two of her favorites:
- “If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here’s How to Set It Straight” (most popular story of 2002 on WSJ.cm, according to the Journal)
- “At Miss Cass Pageant, Disabled Contestants Bask in the Spotlight“
She also writes that when former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband were interviewing prospective writers about their memoir, Zaslow was the only one who started off by asking Giffords how she was feeling. He co-authored the book with them.
Zaslow’s last book, “The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters,” uses the fitting room at a family-owned bridal shop to tell the stories of women who are about to get married. Zaslow wrote a column in January about what wedding-gown sales say about changing conceptions of marriage.
Comments