Thread by @jimtankersley

RIP Tom Wolfe, a transcendent writer and an extraordinary interviewer: nytimes.com/2018/05/15/obi…

Allow me a brief story? 1/

I was a junior in college when Tom Wolfe spent a few months on our campus, researching what would turn out to be "I am Charlotte Simmons". I was in a journalism class, and one day, Wolfe was a surprise guest speaker. Star-struck, I asked the prof after for an introduction. 2/

The professor, Ted Glasser, introduced us. Wolfe said he'd actually been meaning to call me, because I was the editor of the student paper. He invited me to coffee. I was ecstatic. 3/

He showed up for that coffee in a huge car, in his signature white suit coat. We walked to the CoHo, sat down, and he started asking questions. A few were about college journalism. Many were about dorm life. Dating, hook ups, social scene. I was ... puzzled. 4/

Halfway through the interview, he leaned back in his seat and ... I'm not sure how to say this ... relinquished control of the interview. He started letting me ask questions of him. It was a sea change, and he allowed it. 5/

(Only later did I realize that the shift indicated he figured he'd gotten everything interesting that I knew out of me in like 30 minutes) 6/

While I could, I asked him about interviewing, about writing, about anything I could think to about reporting. He told me he once conducted something like a 7-hr interview just to get one quote. 7/

At the time, I thought the lesson there was 'be patient', which it sort of was. But also, the lesson is, sometimes you need to spend hours and hours building trust and learning from someone to get the key insight you need for your story. 8/

We talked for about an hour, and then walked back to his car. I called my dad. I just spent an hour with Tom Wolfe! "That's great!" he said. "Maybe." 9/

(Salon actually published that quote: salon.com/2000/11/06/wol…) 10/

I think about that talk, those insights, frequently. At the time I was a writer who saw reporting as a means to an end. I've since grown to love reporting, as truly the best fuel for writing. I'm in great debt to Mr. Wolfe for helping me see that. 11/

Kicker: I *hated* Charlotte Simmons. Maybe because the newspaper editor character is a dweeb. Maybe because it did not reflect my college experience, at all.
But I will re-read it, and The Right Stuff, and so many of my other faves, this week.
/fin