AUGUST 2025 – We’ve extolled the virtues of the NYT obit desk, so why stop? NYT obituaries today have no peer – and last week’s obituary about CIA operative Sandra Grimes, who uncovered the case of turncoat Aldrich (“Rick”) Ames, is a classic case of a relatively ordinary DC functionary doing something extraordinary. Grimes, who spent most of her career at the CIA, died last month at the age of 79.
The obit’s author, Trip Gabriel, has been at the Times in various capacities since 1993 but joined the obit desk only two years ago.
The obituary is a good example of a life having much broader relevance – it re-tells the story of Ames from a fresh perspective, and it reminds today’s readers that Grimes was one of the heroes who uncovered Ames’ betrayal. As a counterintelligence office Ames, in desperate personal financial straights, became a paid mole in the late 80s for Russia, giving up the identities of several Russians who passed along information to the CIA. No fewer than 8 of those Russians were executed because of Ames’s betrayal. He was finally arrested in 1992.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/us/politics/sandra-grimes-dead.html