Two Cover Boys

by Bruce Schimmel

As the man responsible for putting hundreds of the region’s most influential newsmakers on City Paper’s covers, David Warner finally got what he deserved: a cover of his own.

David's smiling face on the front page. On many front pages, in fact -- in a commemorative book that was presented with heartfelt thanks from CP staffers at David's recent farewell party at the Arden Theatre.

I assure you that these covers will never see the light of publication.

Page after page, David's mug is morphed onto a multitude of newsmakers that have graced CP's covers. His face appears on the bodies of politicians, of activists, fine artists and con artists -- people whose lives intersect ours in unexpected ways.

It is fitting that David's face appeared on so many bodies. For it is David's gift, as a trained actor, that he can embody all kinds of people. Sniffing around in another's sensibility, David possesses an uncanny ability to make sense of all sorts of curious things in ways that everyone can understand.

He can find his way through a forest of facts, making a sensible path through a messy tale. And he made this sense in a probing but gentle way, which earned him the respect of reporters and often of subjects themselves.

David's was the invisible hand with the delicate touch. With a few words, he could set the story straight. Yet, as director of our weekly dramas from true life, David himself always stood outside the limelight.

Which is why the staff -- in a gesture of deep appreciation -- awarded David the front-page coverage he seemed to avoid but so very much deserves.

Which leads us to our second cover boy, Howard Altman. The man now charged with filling the newsboxes with memorable images is a different kind of story gatherer.

If David Warner played the director standing in the wings, Howard Altman occupies a seat in the front row.

But not in a theater. For Howard's berth is more in the front row of a bus, specifically in the driver's seat.

I think of Howard as the ultimate tour guide. Someone with the nose to find the scene, the courage to take us there and the skill to get the story (and us) safely home.

If David earned our trust by virtue of his skillful absence, Howard's ubiquitous presence is the best evidence of his authenticity.

If David uses his gifts to empower others, Howard is the force itself -- and often an unstoppable one.

David and Howard are two very different cover boys: guys who I think of as a "Brahmin from Boston" and a "Bulldog from Brooklyn." Yet I know both are driven by the same goals: to uncover the stories that others overlook, and to keep your trust by telling you what they know to be true.