Best Lead of the Month

'Death is the great equalizer. Even multi-millionaires have to participate.'
--from Roldo Bartimole's recent piece about the death of developer and former Cleveland Indians owner Dick Jacobs. Our runner-up this month is the lead paragraph from a Washington Post report about sleep research: "Sleeping used to be one of my favorite activities--until I got lousy at it.' These two stirringly concise openings serve as a reminder that less is often more. They both wonderfully accomplish the crucial work of any first paragraph, no matter its length: to make it nearly impossible to stop reading. You can review earlier best leads here.