Bob Bauer's Hidden Sorrow

Lady in the Lake

This subplot reveals the grieving columnist Bob Bauer behind the jolly persona of his beloved newspaper column.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Unwelcome Visitor Unwelcome Visitor from "Lady in the Lake". Unwelcome Visitor Bob Bauer appears on Maddie Schwartz's stoop hoping to turn her discovery of Tessie Fine's body into a human-interest column.

Unwelcome Visitor from "Lady in the Lake". Unwelcome Visitor Bob Bauer appears on Maddie Schwartz's stoop hoping to turn her discovery of Tessie Fine's body into a human-interest column.

Unwelcome Visitor Bob Bauer appears on Maddie Schwartz's stoop hoping to turn her discovery of Tessie Fine's body into a human-interest column. She deflects him with a better story. Context Bauer is charming and persistent, but he is also running from a painful home life. Maddie gives him the tip about the fish store clerk, and he runs with it. Significance The meeting establishes a working relationship between Bauer and Maddie. He becomes her informal mentor while hiding his own vulnerability.

Scoop Dangled Scoop Dangled from "Lady in the Lake". Scoop Dangled Maddie brings Bauer her correspondence with Stephen Corwin, showing him the letters that suggest an accomplice.

Scoop Dangled from "Lady in the Lake". Scoop Dangled Maddie brings Bauer her correspondence with Stephen Corwin, showing him the letters that suggest an accomplice.

Scoop Dangled Maddie brings Bauer her correspondence with Stephen Corwin, showing him the letters that suggest an accomplice. Bauer sees the front-page potential. Context Bauer uses his police sources to confirm that Corwin is the primary suspect. The story becomes a sensation and leads to Maddie's job as Helpline assistant. Significance The scoop is Bauer's, but Maddie's name appears in print. It is a bargain that will leave her hungry for a byline of her own.

Lunch at New Orleans Diner Lunch at New Orleans Diner from "Lady in the Lake". Lunch at New Orleans Diner Maddie takes Bob Bauer to lunch and asks how to become a reporter.

Lunch at New Orleans Diner from "Lady in the Lake". Lunch at New Orleans Diner Maddie takes Bob Bauer to lunch and asks how to become a reporter.

Lunch at New Orleans Diner Maddie takes Bob Bauer to lunch and asks how to become a reporter. He tells her no one will let her do anything and that she has to make things happen herself. Context The waitress overhears their conversation about Cleo Sherwood and does not speak up. Bauer encourages Maddie to walk down to the cop shop and learn the basics from John Diller. Significance Bauer's advice is pragmatic and slightly condescending, but it gives Maddie license to investigate Cleo's case. His hidden sadness remains visible only to the reader.

Orange Tickets Orange Tickets from "Lady in the Lake". Orange Tickets Bauer tosses two Orioles tickets onto Maddie's desk as a token of gratitude for the Corwin story.

Orange Tickets from "Lady in the Lake". Orange Tickets Bauer tosses two Orioles tickets onto Maddie's desk as a token of gratitude for the Corwin story.

Orange Tickets Bauer tosses two Orioles tickets onto Maddie's desk as a token of gratitude for the Corwin story. She offers them to Seth, who refuses, and ends up taking Ferdie. Context The tickets are a casual gift, but they enable the most public date Maddie and Ferdie will ever have. Bauer does not know he is financing an interracial affair. Significance The gift shows Bauer's self-absorption. He treats Maddie as a colleague but never asks the questions that would reveal her dangerous private life.

Protect Your Sources Protect Your Sources from "Lady in the Lake". Protect Your Sources After Maddie's Ludlow confession story, Bauer warns her to protect her sources at all costs, even from the bosses.

Protect Your Sources from "Lady in the Lake". Protect Your Sources After Maddie's Ludlow confession story, Bauer warns her to protect her sources at all costs, even from the bosses.

Protect Your Sources After Maddie's Ludlow confession story, Bauer warns her to protect her sources at all costs, even from the bosses. Context He knows John Diller suspects Ferdie. His warning is meant to protect Maddie, but it also protects the system that keeps police corruption quiet. Significance The advice becomes ironical when Ferdie is forced to resign. Maddie learns that source protection can save a career and destroy another person's life.

Cartoon Life Cartoon Life from "Lady in the Lake". Cartoon Life Bauer goes home to a wife with multiple sclerosis and a house full of silence.

Cartoon Life Bauer goes home to a wife with multiple sclerosis and a house full of silence. His column about the jolly family is a fiction, and Maddie never knows until much later. Context His daughter died of leukemia years ago; his son lives in California. Bauer is a man who creates a paper life to survive his actual one. Significance The hidden sorrow of Bob Bauer mirrors the novel's larger theme of invisible lives. He is a colleague, mentor, and warning to Maddie about the cost of self-invention.

March 1966

April 1966

June 1966

July 1966

September 1966

late 1966