Triad publisher and family recovering from serious collision involving a tractor-trailer (2024)

You might not know the name Brian Clarey. But you’ve seen his work.

The Triad City Beat — Clarey’s baby — has been on display on many, if not most, downtown street corners for a decade in Greensboro and Winston-Salem. High Point, too.

Back in the not too distant past, if you worked in an office, odds are high that you’ve perused an edition of the weekly publication while waiting on soup and a sandwich.

TCB’s metal boxes have become part of the urban landscape and the paper part of the local media ecosystem.

Ordinarily we wouldn’t spend a lot of time writing, wondering — or worrying, frankly — about the publisher of a different outlet in the small (and shrinking) world of local news gathering.

But today’s different.

Changed in an instant

Clarey, his wife Jill and college-age kid Ross were on their way up north to drop Ross off at college — the same ritual many of us have experienced through the years.

It should have been a joyful family occasion, perhaps sealed by a few tears and long hugs.

But it went bad in an instant when the family wagon was flattened in a collision involving a semi-tractor trailer in northern Virginia.

All three survived but suffered serious injuries that included multiple broken bones and internal injuries. And Brian Clarey, according to a GoFundMe set up by his sister-in-law, had a brain bleed and a concussion.

(If his family hadn’t been involved, the guess here is that Clarey might already be making wisecracks.)

And Clarey being who he is — an old-school newspaperman to his core — he managed to send an update to his staff along with a photo of the car.

Or more precisely, what’s left of it.

Other than its color (white), the vehicle is damn near unrecognizable. It’s a miracle they all survived.

“I haven’t been this banged up in a long time,” he messaged the folks running the day to day operations from the hospital. “And I can’t even describe how much it pains me to see my wife and child in here with me. But we are all on the mend, and hopefully will be home in a few days.”

Triad City Beat was founded in 2014 when Clarey, Eric Ginsburg and Jordan Green left another news weekly to strike out on their own.

Who among us hasn’t had a similar moment of take-this-job-and-shove-it madness? The difference is Clarey had the gumption — and the will — to see it through.

Green and Ginsburg have since moved on, but what they pulled off with a start-up in a tough environment for traditional media is impressive.

Saving a seat at the table

Given the news, forgive the indulgence in wishing one of our own a speedy, smooth recovery free of complication or additional pain.

Journalists are part of a small, insular community — true believers with an abiding faith in the importance of the work. For lifers, it’s both a blessing and a curse.

We’re pleased to report that the GoFundMe has been well-received. As of Tuesday afternoon, some $89,000 had been pledged by 805 donors. And as anyone who’s ever been billed an astronomical amount for an aspirin knows, $89K won’t last long.

As for those who’ll hit the lunch counter this week, the paper won’t miss a beat. It’ll come out on Thursday, same as always.

Clarey, see, has gone from a jack-of-all-trades editor to a more traditional publisher role. I imagine he’s as surprised as anybody by that development.

“I’m so honored that people are interested in my work,” Clarey wrote to his staff. “And I have to credit this crackerjack staff who is able to keep things going on without me, at least as well as when I’m actually in the room, and probably somewhat better.”

From one (rhetorical) bomb-throwing scribe to another, get well soon.

“Thank you so much for reaching out, man,” Clarey wrote in response to an email. We knew he’d be checking even from a hospital.

“We’re all pretty banged up, but I should be back maybe before Election day. I hope.”

Us, too. We’ll save you a seat at the bar on Election Night.