American - Author | January 3, 1954 -
I figured I was going to apply to one journalism school and let fate take a hand.
Erik Larson
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I was in Bucks County at the 'Bucks County Currier Times,' which is a great place to start for any reporter who wants to start out.
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I was once again looking for a book idea, and I remembered Holmes, but I specifically remembered that there was this World's Fair thing in the background. I thought, 'I'll read about the fair.' I had nothing better to do. I'd dismissed about a dozen ideas, and I was getting sort of antsy. I started reading, and that's where I got hooked.
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One of the things I've always loved is collecting telling little details.
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The thing I always tell my writing students - I'm not a full-time instructor, by any means, but periodically I've taught writing students - what I always tell them is that the most important thing in narrative nonfiction is that you not only have to have all the research; you have to have about 100% more than you need.
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I write to be read. I'm quite direct about that. I'm not writing to thrill colleagues or to impress the professors at the University of Iowa; that's not my goal.
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The telephone call that forever changed the lives of the Dodd family of Chicago came at noon on Thursday, June 8, 1933, as William E. Dodd sat at his desk at the University of Chicago.
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With my research, I really need absolute confirmation of what actually happened, direct physical connections to the past.
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It was a civilian ship, and the Lusitania could outrun any submarine. So this population of people was very confident that Cunard and the Royal Navy would be looking after them. Why weren't they under convoy? That's the real question.
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I find diplomatic histories the dullest of histories.
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The one place where I do think our culture today has to be extremely careful is this whole thing about illegal aliens. Because any time you start defining a significant block of the population as 'others,' or as less than you, you start getting into dangerous waters.
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How you frame a debate is very important. When you call someone an 'illegal alien,' you've already stacked the deck against them.
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