Rarely do we get a glimpse behind the scenes when such a tragedy occurs. Generally speaking, families are segregated from the news media. Part of the reason is to protect their privacy. And it likely helps to have a single spokesman do the talking. But there were occasions when the frustration boiled over and disgruntled Crandall Canyon Mine family members began to decry how they had been treated by Murray or to wonder aloud whether every possible means to reach the trapped miners had been exhausted.

The Crandall Canyon Mine saga is far from over. Investigations are under way. A state commission is meeting to determine, among other issues, whether Utah should have its own mine regulatory agency. All of the affected families are coping the best they can, some still hoping at some point the bodies of the six trapped miners can be recovered.

Stickler hesitates to give a time frame for completion of the federal probe. He will say that many mine disasters he's studied or investigated personally had common characteristics — either the laws were inadequate or weren't followed. He's drawn no such conclusions about the Crandall Canyon Mine other than to say that designing coal pillars is not an exact science and the geology of Utah's underground mines renders them more susceptible to the events that caused the collapses at the mine.

It's hard to size up a man in the brief time we had with Stickler. His visit, I suspect, was part damage control. But I walked away from our time together with a greater appreciation of what goes on behind the glare of the cameras when MSHA responds to an event and, more importantly, Stickler's personal commitment to the health and safety of miners nationwide.

As I told him, these matters are not abstractions to me. My brother is a coal miner. MSHA must do its best by him and the thousands of other miners across the country. Their lives depend upon it.

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Marjorie Cortez, who hopes the Crandall Canyon Mine families know peace and healing, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. E-mail her at marjorie@desnews.com