Ben Bradlee departs Globe. Veteran Boston Globe staff member Ben Bradlee Jr. - on leave to write a book about Ted Williams - has decided not to return. Globe editor Marty Baron's memo to the staff has been posted on Romenesko. A copy was sent to Media Log as well. It reads:

To the staff:

I am sorry to report that we are saying farewell to a colleague whose 25 years of dedicated service to The Boston Globe has brought some of its finest journalistic achievements.

Ben Bradlee Jr. has served this paper in a wide range of capacities - as investigative reporter, state government reporter, national correspondent, foreign correspondent, the editor overseeing State House and City Hall bureaus, the Assistant Managing Editor for local news, and Deputy Managing Editor for Projects and Investigations.

To each of those jobs, he brought passion, fierce competitiveness, and a drive to get at the truth. Ben has held us to high standards and high ambitions, and he has become a dear friend to so many here.

Over the past year and a half, Ben has been on a leave of absence while researching and writing a book on Ted Williams. He will continue to work on that book, his fourth. A few weeks ago, Ben said he had concluded that now would be a good time to move on to another phase of his life, and in that I know he has our best wishes.

He also has our thanks for his many contributions to the Globe's success. I am particularly grateful for his invaluable leadership on the investigation of the priest sex-abuse scandal, where he always pressed forward and never settled for less than the full story. The book that emerged from that investigation, "Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church," would never have been published without Ben, who conceived the project, oversaw the reporting, and personally edited it.

Ben won't be far away, and I'm sure he'll be available for good advice, journalistic inspiration, or maybe just a drink among friends.

Marty

Bradlee, 55, had been at the Globe for 25 years. Among his books is Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North, published in 1988, in the midst of the Iran-contra scandal.

And yes, his father is the retired executive editor of the Washington Post, the legendary Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee.