My Favorite Cigar
Keith Kelly • Newspaper Media Columnist
Cohiba Royale Gran Toro
When Keith Kelly departed the New York Post as the writer of the tabloid’s Media Ink column, he spent part of the first day as he has many times over the last 23 years: lunching at a Manhattan haunt for publishing bigwigs. The difference this time was that, with no deadline pressure, he approached it while puffing on a Cohiba.
The media maven, who typically struck fear into editors and publishers with a simple phone call, started smoking cigars in college and early on a girlfriend gave him a “senior survival kit,” including Wild Turkey Bourbon and a box of machine-made cigars. Now he smokes handmades, partaking as a celebratory cigar smoker, for example at sunsets, and each time one of his three sons arrived.
While Kelly has retired from the Post, he insists this milestone doesn’t mean an exit from journalism. He is considering becoming a publisher of neighborhood papers. He thinks such “hyperlocal” publications will be a successful print outlet amidst the onslaught of online media competition. “People say, why would you do it? And I say, I think it would be a blast. I can walk around my neighborhood and see five stories in a day.”
