Newsletter - One of the best storytellers...

Hi,

I wanted to talk a bit about a writer who has been one of my very favourite for nearly 20 years. Once upon a time, in Don Menn's Writing for Magazine class at San Francisco State University in the fall of 2001 I learned about Gay Talese. Most specifically his very famous story on Frank Sinatra. Talese was sent to do a story on the famous singer, but the famous singer didn't want to talk to him. Sinatra was about to turn 50, dating a 20-year-old Mia Farrow, and not super keen on being interviewed. 

So how do you solve doing a profile on a person who won't let you do a profile on him?

You do the story on everyone else. Talese spent months and talked to everyone around Frank Sinatra who would speak to him. And by doing so created one of the most celebrated pieces of journalism ever and possibly the best profile ever made on Frank Sinatra. 

If you can find a copy of Fame and Obscurity by Gay Talese, or find the story called Frank Sinatra Has a Cold, you'll see how a great storyteller weaves a story around what was made available to him, like an alchemist of words.

We can do this with images too. Maybe we can't literally tell a story, but we can certainly use what is made available to us and find ways around the problems to come up with solutions. The story is there, it's up to us to find a way to tell it. 

Who is your favourite writer? I'd love to add them to my list of things to read. 

All for now,

Kristine