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NPR's Scott Simon Chronicles A Life - And Death - In 140 Heart-Wrenching Characters

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Update, 5:30 p.m.: Scott Simon just talked to All Things Considered's Audie Cornish about his mother's last few days of life and why he decided to tweet about them. Warning: When Nat King Cole's Unforgettable starts playing, no eye will be dry.

Our original post: "The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage."

That's a tweet from Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, at 7:17 p.m. yesterday, characterizing the final moments of his larger-than-life mother. And it was the culmination of the heart-wrenching, heart-filling six-day journey that he shared with his 1.2 million Twitter followers.

Scott was in North Texas a few months back, talking with Krys Boyd on Think and chatting with KERA members at several events. His mother was clearly ill, but he was vintage Simon: quipping on the surface and dipping deep to touch the heartstrings.

He's built a social media following unmatched at NPR. But no one, including Scott himself, could have been prepared for that final, harrowing journey. The tweets touched topics from the light ("Mother & I just finished a duet of We'll Meet Again. Every word has meaning. Nurse looks in, asks, 'Do you take requests?' ") to the touching ("Nights are the hardest. But that's why I'm here. I wish I could lift my mother's pain & fears from her bones into mine.") to the classic ("My mother: 'Believe me, those great death bed speeches are written ahead of time.")

Leave it to Scott Simon (and his mother) to make 140 words mean, and do, so much.

Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.