“Back in 1997, right after I was elected mayor of Austin, the Chronicle did a brief story on one of my defining life experiences: my successful fight against testicular cancer.
“Well, there was a problem – the story said that in treating my testicular cancer, both of my testicles had been removed. In fact, I lost only one.
“I remember bursting into Council Member Daryl Slusher’s office, throwing my arms up and saying, ‘Well, the Chronicle finally castrated me.’
“One of the less-obvious issues with a mistake like this is, how do you fix it? This was sort of delicate to begin with, and now, to correct it, we were going to get into more detail. TMI.
“Well, my wife Liz decided to clear things up. She did it without telling me, knowing that I just wanted it dropped. But she was concerned about other young men who might be diagnosed. She wrote a letter gently explaining what happened, thoughtfully emphasizing that others shouldn’t assume catastrophe or fear treatment arising out of a cancer diagnosis. She also hilariously said she didn’t want our son Cooper to be too confused about his origins, since the math would reveal he came along after my treatment.
“It was a wonderful letter. And brought an end to a story that the Chronicle and I were ready to see end. Until now, apparently, as we celebrate an anniversary. (Actually, the Chronicle celebrates its anniversary and I celebrate how glad I am that the report was so wrong.)”
– Kirk Watson, state senator and former Austin mayor
This article appears in 30th Anniversary.