Mr. Turner

The man was predictable. The systems around him were the lesson.

Ted Turner died yesterday at 87. The headlines call him a pioneer. They are not wrong. He also said a line to me in 2001 that I have never forgotten.

The largest merger in American history was still settling into the floors and the air vents of the office buildings it had just consumed. AOL had bought Time Warner. Most people remember the headline. Most …