BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: JOURNALISM #2

“Hence the advice that JR receives from a pal: 
‘When you Suck at writing, you become a journalist.’
 No comment.”

Anthony Lane, concluding his review of “The 
Tender Bat” in The New Yorker (January 17, 2022)

**

TORCHY BLANE, FICTIONAL REPORTER

Glenda Farrell played Torchy Blane, a daring female 
reporter in a series of popular films; which later 
was credited by comic book writer Jerry Siegel as 
the inspiration for the DC Comics reporter, Lois Lane.

WIKIPEDIA -GLENDA FARRELL

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A REAL JOURNALIST

"In the summer of 1960, I was working nights 
at the New York Post, an afternoon tabloid,
trying to learn my imperfect craft. I started
each shift at one a.m. and finished most mornings,
at eight. Then if I had a few dollars in my 
pocket, I would go to the Page One, a saloon on
Greenwich Street, and wait for the first edition,
which arrived fresh off the presses at nine. At 
the bar, in the company of older professionals,
I received a good part of my professional education.
They examined headlines, often with a bilious eye.
They scrutinized stories, including my own. They 
issued fierce criticisms, savage, often hilarious
indictments. They told me what I should never
do again, and I tried hard not to repeat my
latest published barbarism. I was never happier."

Pete Hamill. Downtown: My Manhattan (New York:
Little, Brown and company, 2004)
**
ANOTHER REAL JOURNALIST-- MOLLY IVINS

In her syndicated column, which appeared in 
about 350 newspapers, Ms. Ivins cultivated 
the voice of a folksy populist who derided 
those who she thought acted too big for their 
britches. She was rowdy and profane,  but she 
could filet her opponents with droll precision.

After Patrick J. Buchanan, as a conservative 
candidate for president, declared at the 1992 
Republican National Convention that the United 
States was engaged in a cultural war, she said 
his speech “probably sounded better in the 
original German.”

Katharine Q. Seelye. from the obituary for
Molly Ivins, Columnist, in The New York Times
Feb. 1, 2007

**
CARL BERNSTEIN BEGINS HIS CAREER IN NEWSPAPER
REPORTING AS A COPYBOY AT AGE 16

“People were shouting. Typewriters clattered and 
chinged. Beneath my feet I could feel the rumble 
of the presses. In my whole life I had never heard 
such purposeful commotion as I now beheld in that 
newsroom. By the time I had walked from one end 
to the other, I knew that I wanted to be a 
newspaperman.”

Carl Bernstein. A Kid in the Newsroom (NY: 
Henry Holt& Company,2021)
**
CLAY FELKER & THE BIRTH OF THE NEW JOURNALISM 
OF GAY TALESE, TOM WOLF , AND GAIL SHEEHY

“The New Journalism would grow into a movement. 
But the form wasn’t really all that new. Clay 
had stumbled upon it back in the Duke library 
when he came upon bound volumes of the Civil 
War-era Tribune. Horace Greeley’s famous 
nineteenth-century newspaper. He began to read 
gripping accounts  from the Virginia battlefield, 
not from a disinterested correspondent but vivid 
stories with narrative  structure written by 
soldiers in the trenches.”

Gail Sheehy. Daring: My Passages (New York: 
HarperCollins, 2014)
**

DESI ARNEZ & LUCILLE BALL LEARN FROM 
WALTER WINCHELL THAT LUCY IS PREGNANT (p.117)

In 1950, Lucy and Desi travelled to New York City. 
“She arrived on Friday and made clandestine 
arrangements for a pregnancy test, using her 
hairdresser’s name to avoid publicity. That 
Sunday night she and Desi were relaxing in 
their dressing room. Desi fell asleep to the 
clack of Lucy’s knitting needles and staccato 
of Walter Winchell doing his radio broadcast. 
The next few moments were right out of a 
vaudeville skit, but they were real.
     “After ten childless years of marriage,” 
said Winchell, “Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are infanticipating!”
       Lucy dropped her knitting and woke up her 
husband. “We’re going to have a baby!”
       Desi rubbed his eyes. “How d’ya know? 
We aren’t suppose to hear until tomorrow.”
        “Winchell just told me.”
        “ How d’ya like dat?”
 Actually they were delighted, even though 
the couple resented Winchell’s notorious practice 
of bribing doctors, nurses, and medical technicians 
to get inside information on ailing or pregnant 
celebrities.”

Stefan Kanfer. Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous 
Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball (New York: 
Alfred A. Knopf, 2003)

**

WALTER WINCHELL
 
Walter Winchell
In a pinch'll
Quote a joke or a quip
Or repeat gossip from a hot tip.

LJP