The retrocast this week celebrates the cessation of a wet spell that had us all waterlogged as of Friday night. And then, still: People are somehow surprised when we get temps into the high 60s and beyond in mid-November. People are like, Wow, this is warm for November. But for anyone who's been around here for longer than like two or three years, that statement is a pure confession of ignorance. If you have any weather memory at all, you'll know that such temperatures are not uncommon at all through November. Important point here: This is not a broadside against people who don't like the cold nor is it one of those Nordic superiority rants in which the person says, Oh, this ain't cold; you ain't seen cold till you....This is merely a riff about people's lame weather memory.
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Last Friday, two Washington Post journalists got into a fistfight about their work. Longtime writer and editor Henry Allen dissed a piece by staff writer Manuel Roig-Franzia, whereupon Roig-Franzia referred to Allen as a "cocksucker." Allen responded with blows.

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David Von Drehle is a former Washington Post editor and staff writer---one of the paper's towering figures. He left the paper in 2006 for Time magazine but is always worth consulting about things that go down at the Post. I asked him for his take on the Allen-Roig-Franzia fracas and got quite a few thoughts. I was going to pick and choose some things to quote, but there's no point in filtering this stuff:

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Did anyone actually end up writhing on the floor? Where did Allen connect? Was there any shoving involved? How quickly did Brauchli get to the scene of the crime?

Hit play and find out!

When one man hauls off and punches another in the face, the conflict often has a long-tailed provenance. Such appears to be the case with Washington Post Style section staffers Manuel Roig-Franzia and Henry Allen. Those two got into a tussle on Friday afternoon in the vicinity of Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli's temporary office on the 4th floor of the Washington Post building at 15th and L Streets NW.

Let's mark the start of hostilities as mid-week. That's when, according to an informed source, Allen raised questions about a Roig-Franzia story about a woman who had undergone multiple abortions. In the back and forth, Roig-Franzia allegedly called Allen a "dick." No punches were thrown.

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Around deadline on Friday, some tensions boiled over in the Style section of the Washington Post. According to an informed source, a disagreement arose between reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia and storied Style veteran Henry Allen.

Though it's unclear exactly what they were arguing about, it is clear that the mood was testy. Testy enough, that is, for Roig-Franzia to quip to Allen, "Henry, don't be such a cocksucker."

Allen didn't take kindly to the suggestion and went after Roig-Franzia, in the testimony of an eyewitness. Limited combat then broke out, though, again, it's not terribly clear how many punches landed.

The mayhem broke out not far from the temporary office of Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli. A lean man, Brauchli reportedly was among the first Post males on the scene to perform the time-honored "break it up" duties. A few others helped out, too.

We have calls out to both principals and will keep prosecuting the story as the day progresses.

Update 11:28 am: Attempts to get Brauchli on the line regarding his alpha-male heroics have proven futile thus far. The executive editor is apparently on travel today. However, WaPo spokesperson Kris Coratti issued this statement in response to questions about the matter: "I can't discuss private personnel matters but that doesn't mean we haven't taken this incident seriously and addressed it appropriately."

Just what "appropriately" means here isn't quite clear yet. Before taking on that question, we're looking to speak with Allen and Roig-Franzia, not to mention other individuals.

Update 12:25 pm: Reached Roig-Franzia on his cell phone. After I identified myself, his phone hung up.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out City Paper's exclusive reenactment of this historic event: Allen v. Roig-Franzia ~ The Movie!

Competition makes everyone better, goes the truism. Proof, this morning at least, lies on pages A1 and C1 of the Washington Post. After a great deal of consultation yesterday, managers at the paper decided they'd be covering the death of novelist John Updike with both a news obituary as well as an "Appreciation" on the front page of the Style section. This Doublemint treatment of fallen cultural heroes has come under fire of late from the paper's top editors; the new guard at the Post is concerned about duplication at a time when two is starting to feel like a luxury number.

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