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By Betty Bayé
Pulitzer Prize winner and longtime Wilmington (Del.) News Journal columnist, editorial writer and editor Norman Lockman wasn't about to leave to chance how he'd be officially memorialized.

Norm, who was 66, lost his fight with Lou Gehrig's disease on April 18, 2005. So, his brother-in-law, Bob Trainer, told the 350 people who filled nearly every seat in downtown Wilmington's Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew on Saturday, April 30, that Norm had taken care of the most important details of his home-going. Norm chose the gold urn that contained his ashes and the photograph of him wearing his signature bow tie that sat on an easel in the front of the church and directly in front of his eulogists -- as if to remind them, one said, that he was watching.

Norm chose the simple cover for his memorial program, a cartoon rendering of himself from the neck up, reading, "Norman A. Lockman, 1938-2005" and the word, "Finale."

Norm also chose the music and those who would have the speaking parts.

Norm didn't suffer fools gladly, said one of his eulogists, local entrepreneur Ajit George. He interspersed years of recollections -- from Norm as his first boss to those from a friendship that spanned 33 years -- with what others had to say. The others included Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and fellow columnists Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe and DeWayne Wickham of USA Today.

One of Norm's three daughters, Carey Lockman Corbin, remarked that the Lockmans had entered a new era, but promised that the family would continue to honor his great affection for food, music and lively debate. "Don't be afraid to express your opinions. Engage in healthy debates," Corbin recalled her father saying.

His work had occupied him for about 50 years. With time and his energy running out, Norm wrote a farewell column Nov. 28 in which he had sage advice for those who would soldier on without him. "Journalism," he said, "is like driving. You need to know when to stop doing it well before you become a hazard to yourself and others."

Norm also loved a good drink, and so, a martini reception followed at a different location.

Among those at the service were W. Curtis Riddle, publisher of the News Journal; Bennie Ivory, executive editor of the Courier-Journal in Louisville; Vanessa Williams of the Washington Post; Roy Campbell, formerly of the Philadelphia Inquirer; Garland Thompson, formerly of the Baltimore Sun; and Wayne J. Dawkins and Sherman Miller, members of the Trotter Group of African American columnists.

Betty Baye, a member of the Trotter Group, is a columnist at the Louisville Courier-Journal.

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