'Palm Beach Post' Takes Interactive Approach to Famous Dwarf's Death

By: Miki Johnson With its recent coverage of the death of beloved local celebrity John Rice, The Palm Beach Post strove to remind readers where to look for local news with an inventive ongoing package that encompasses print, video and the Web.

John Rice and his 2-foot-10-inch twin brother Greg had spent their whole life in the southeastern Florida community and were widely known for their booming real estate business, TV acting stints, lust for life, and civic activism. When John Rice died of a heart attack Nov. 5, The Post knew they had to express all the inside information at their disposal. It was as if they followed John Rice's motto: "Think Big."

The Rices, born with dwarfism, were believed to be the world's shortest twins.

"The first thing we recognized was that this was a hometown story," recalled Tim Burke, deputy managing editor at The Post. "That's something that newspapers, both in print and online, we can still own, and still be very competitive."

By Nov. 6, the day after John Rice's death, The Post had run his obituary and had established an online guestbook. On its first day, about 60 messages of condolence were posted -- the next day almost 200.

Over the past week, The Post has added a photo gallery, video clips from TV partner WPEC Channel 12, and a slide show narrated by Greg Rice. In print, the story also has expanded with an in-depth feature in the Accent section and a follow-up on the funeral last Saturday. In another instance of inventive Web-print integration, the paper accompanied Sunday's article on the funeral with selected postings from the online guestbook.

"People like to feel part of the news," Burke said. "[The guestbook] is a great place where you can feel part of the community and part of the story." The guestbook was the most popular local one the paper has established and fell only slightly behind big, national story guestbooks such as ones following the deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terry Schiavo.

Most posts are simple regrets, and more than a few are from other twins or people with physical disabilities. Several also provide glimpses into the brothers' lives. One recalls the Rice brothers, dressed as elves, bringing "Santa Claus" to cheer a cancer-stricken 5-year-old. Another remembers the twins' roller rink escapades. Another laments John's loss with an original poem.

In testament to John's legendary sense of humor, many of the anecdotes are funny, such as one from LaDona (Crist) Coll in Orlando, Fla., who, forgetting John's slight stature, gave him a hard time for asking her to turn off a light he could not reach. Another, from a fellow former Boy Scout, evokes the image of John, carrying a pack literally as big as himself, refusing to ask for help.