News of the Weird
Introduction


**News of the Weird** is a [syndicated](/wiki/Print_syndication "Print syndication") [newspaper column](/wiki/Newspaper_column "Newspaper column") originated by **Chuck Shepherd** that collects bizarre news stories. It was created in 1988\. , it is syndicated by [Universal Press Syndicate](/wiki/Universal_Press_Syndicate "Universal Press Syndicate") and published in more than 250 newspapers in the [United States](/wiki/United_States "United States") and [Canada](/wiki/Canada "Canada"). As of July 2008, the daily internet column has merged with two other "weird" websites to form Weird Universe.

Shepherd announced his July 2, 2017 column would be his last after 30 years. Starting the next week, columns were credited to "the Editors at [Andrews McMeel](/wiki/Andrews_McMeel "Andrews McMeel")". The September 9, 2022 column announced Shepherd died the previous day.


Why was the July 2, 2017 column by Chuck Shepherd important?