Famous journalist speaks about courage

Gail Sheehy, journalist and author of “Passages,” named by the Library of Congress as one of the 10

most influential books of our time, spoke of how curiosity and ambition can help journalists find their best potential, and create opportunities for themselves.

Sheehy spoke to Ball State University students Oct. 22 in Pruis Hall as a part of the David Letterman

Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series.

Sheehy started as a writer in a time when women weren’t supposed to write about notable, important news stories. Instead, their assignments focused on recipes and tips for being the best wife and mother possible.

Sheehy wanted more opportunities as a reporter, so she marched from the area in the newsroom where the women were sequestered to the office of Clay Felker, the editor of the Herald Tribune who would go on to found New York Magazine. She could have lost her job for this, and yet she pitched her ideas to him.

He told her to write her story as a scene, a brand new concept for Sheehy and one that would later be integrated into “new journalism.” Sheehy worked with Felker, who would later become her husband, to develop stories for New York Magazine.

One year later, it was Felker who pitched an idea to Sheehy: for her to follow Sen. Bobby Kennedy on his presidential campaign trail. Felker told her that no matter how good her stories were, they were unremarkable because no one would remember them. He told her that journalists makes their names by finding a big story that everyone’s talking about but they don’t know the why behind the story.

This was only the first of many notable stories Sheehy took on throughout her career. She wrote a cover story for New York Magazine in 1971 about the harsh realities of working as a prostitute. She spoke to Hillary Clinton about menopause, something not openly discussed in 1992. And she was one of the first to report on Bloody Sunday that happened in 1972 in Northern Ireland, where she watched the young boy standing next to her be shot and killed.

Sheehy said that as the first person at a disaster or tragedy, journalists have the best opportunity to gain context and people’s trust before they harden up to telling their story.

“If you’re always staying in your comfort zone you’ll never do anything meaningful,” she said.

She’s since written 17 books about her experiences. It’s curiosity that’s driven her pursuit of such a diverse number of stories, and curiosity that can help journalists find more topics to write about.

“Well-told stories are the way we express our humanity,” Sheehy said.

It’s vital for journalists to find good editors to work with. She said that editors don't edit anymore. Publishing houses make more money with fewer bodies, so editors don’t have the time to really edit anymore. It’s difficult for writers to identify which of their “little darlings” to pull out of the story, but those are what’s most important to remove.

#lifestyle #literature #journalism