In Memoriam: The Herald Tribune

"Herald Tribune!" "Herald Tribune!" Who ever saw Jean-Luc Godard's cult movie "A bout de souffle", will remember the blonde Jean Seberg selling the (then) New York Herald Tribune on the Champs-Elysées. Later, The Herald Tribune became the International Herald Tribune. And now, incorporated in the New York Times, it becomes the International New York Times. As Arthur Ochs Sulzberger's grandson (also an Arthur Ochs Sulzberger) writes, "Today, our future is global." You bet. Yet, in a way, it means that The Herald Tribune disappears altogether. So, I'll shout it once more. "Herald Tribune! Herald Tribune!"

And no, "A bout de souffle", half a century later, doesn't appear as good as it was. Or as we once thought it was. Although it's still worth seeing Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo - and hearing the latter say, while driving a probably stolen car on one of France's typical rural roads, "Ah, c'est beau, la France..."

Whenever I drive on one of these roads, I see Belmondo, elbow on the window, cigar between his lips, and I repeat: "Ah, c'est beau, la France..."