Rest in peace, Joan – and please ignore that typo

My introduction to Joan Scofield came in 2006, when she marched into The New Era newspaper office and told us we needed a proofreader.

That was Joan’s style: straightforward but not at all mean. Just matter-of-fact. A true proof-reader.

I’d been a journalist for 25 years at that point, and I was pretty new in Sweet Home, having arrived less than 18 months earlier to assume the helm of your local newspaper.

Believe it or…