Last Updated: March 23, 1997
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Let's lead off with leads. Good ones are so compelling the reader wouldn't think of stopping. Good leads can also, in a few words, put a large issue in perspective. Consider, for example, this one:
"If Tampa hosted a Super Bowl every month for a year, the revenue generated wouldn't come close to what agriculture contributes annually into Hillsborough County's economy."
(By Keith Morelli, Tampa (Fla.) Tribune.)
While we're at it, here are others from Tampa, a reliable contributor.
"One button lower and he could have called pay-per-view. One button to the right and he would have called Orlando.
"But police say a 9-week-old gray and white cat hit just the right speed-dial button to call 911 Wednesday morning from the family trailer in the Flying Cloud Mobile Home Park."
(By Howie Paul Hartnett, on a feature about the cat Tipper who, while choking on his flea collar, summoned authorities.)
"With 5 tons of asphalt and a front-end loader, Mike Mahan knew he could stop most anything, including a burglary."
(By Barbara Boyer, on the construction worker's strategic deposit of asphalt, leaving a would-be burglar's car right where it was parked.)
"In sixth grade, George and Leonard Levy ran against each other for class president.
"George won by a vote. The two boys talked things out. It seems Leonard voted for George. And George? Well, he voted for George, too.
" 'I was the best person,' said George, a smile climbing up one side of his tanned face. 'If you don't think you're good enough, why do you run?' "
(By Noam M.M. Neusner, featuring the community-leading brothers.)
"It's a bit like writing a novel and having it edited into a haiku."
(By David Pedreira, reporting on a hearing officer's order that lawyers in a case slash their giant legal questionnaire by 95 percent.)
Here are a few leads from the Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn.:
"It's a Norman Rockwell sort of place, with red-white-and-blue flags and an All-American street."
(By Kellie Lambert.)
"Two hundred million years before the first Friendly's, Burger King or McDonald's, a marshy pond northwest of here was our area's high-volume culinary hot spot."
(By Nancy Van Valkenburg.)
Invoking author's prerogative, I'm including a lead from my own paper's sports page:
"Rashaan Salaam's rookie year in the NFL was more herky-jerky than ESPN2. You needed Dramamine when analyzing it."
(By Marc Morehouse, of the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald featuring the Chicago Bears' second-year running back.)
"Flipper - and Robin Williams - made me do it."
(By Victor Zak, of the Asbury Park Press of Neptune, N.J., opening a first-person column on swimming with dolphins, inspired by a TV documentary starring the comedian.)
The paper also had a winning headline:
At funeral home, marriage was the undertaking
(By Jeff Linkous, on an article about a couple's odd venue for a wedding: a funeral home.)
Steak-out
Lake deputies track down a couple of trouble-makers - 2 ornery cows
(By Christine Miller, Cleveland Plain Dealer.)
Three fun headlines from the Houston Chronicle:
Oh, look! See Dick and Jane again in book about primers
(By Jeff Samfield, on a wire story.)
Esteemed Rice
Dress up basic grain in versatile mixes
(By Nancy Ginzel, on a food-section story.)
Quoth the doc: Rabies killed Poe
Theory counters tale that he died a drunk
(By Craig Howard, on a wire-service article reporting a medical professor's diagnosis: the author's death was a classic case of rabies.)
Looking for a New Year's resolution? Resolve to share your staff's best headlines and leads with The Write Stuff.
It's simple. Start each month by addressing a large envelope to me. When you publish a quality headline or lead, highlight it, indicate the author's name and place the copy or tear sheet in the envelope. At the end of the month, mail the envelope.
Repeat monthly. 
Cooper is executive editor of the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald. Contact him at P.O. Box 688, Dubuque, IA 52004-0688 or bcooper@wcinet.com.
