Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
November 23 - 29, 2023 Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXXIII No. 41
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
6 Teen Lives IN MEMORY OF CHARLIE CLARK In Danger After Accident On Shreve Rd. 5 Marshall Teens Among Those In Early Monday Crash by Brian Reach
Falls Church News-Press
Six Northern Virginia teenagers, ages 14 to 17, remained in critical condition as the News-Press went to press Tuesday night, after suffering life-threatening injuries from a single-vehicle accident early Monday morning, according to an update from Lt. John Crone of the Fairfax County Police Department. The accident occurred on Shreve Road adjacent Falls Church. A seventh teen, the 17-year old driver of the vehicle involved, was able to walk away from the crash. On Monday, McLean High School sent an email to parents informing them that one of their students and “others from a nearby school” were involved in a crash. Longfellow Middle School, located in the greater Falls Church area just south of McLean, also sent an email saying one student was involved. Marshall High School, located in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County about a mile north of where the accident occurred, sent out an email saying that five of their students were involved. None of the teens attend Falls Church City Public Schools, according to John Wesley Brett, Director of Communications for FCCPS. Shortly before 5 a.m. Monday, the Fairfax Police Department responded to a crash at the 2600 block of Pioneer Ln. on Shreve Rd., a residential intersection
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CHARLIE CLARK (left), days before he was stricken by a rare neurological disorder that quickly took his life Nov. 15, is shown here presenting a copy of his latest book, “Life and Times of the Falls Church News-Press” to News-Press founder, owner and editor Nicholas Benton at the News-Press Office. (Photo: Brian Reach)
Journalism Pro Charlie Clark, 70, Died Last Week by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Beloved journalist, columnist, story teller and book author Charles Stuart (“Charlie”) Clark died at his home in Arlington on Nov. 15 from a rare neurological disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He was 70. An Arlington native and lifelong journalist, Clark authored the weekly column in the NewsPress, “Our Man in Arlington,” for more than a decade and wrote numerous news stories and published interviews and books. Clark was first struck with
the fast-progressing degenerative condition barely two weeks after his latest book, a meticulously-researched history, “Life and Times of the Falls Church News-Press,” hit bookshelves. The illness caused a series of events to introduce it, including at the Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church, to be canceled. After a week in the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, he was diagnosed by a team of the Mayo Clinic, and spent his last days at home surrounded by his wife, Ellen, and children before his death.
Clark was described by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer as “a Northern Virginia institution for decades dedicated to the community he loved.” Arlington State Del. Patrick Hope said, “Arlington has lost is greatest historian of all time, an author, teacher and best story teller I’ve ever known.” His wife Ellen and daughters Elizabeth and Suzannah, collaborated on his life story following his passing last week. They wrote, “A proud native of Arlington County, Charlie was born on July 6, 1953 to Keith
Conrad Clark, an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, and Cynthia Landry Clark, an accomplished editor and translator. “Charlie set deep roots in Arlington, forging lifelong friendships in the Rivercrest and Cherrydale neighborhoods. After a gap year spent abroad in Europe, Charlie attended the University of Oregon and later graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “Known to many by the name
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