Legendary old-school newspaperman Pete Hamill visited my Downtown class at NYU today. Hamill is a former editor of the New York Daily News and author of books such as “Why Sinatra Matters” and “A Drinking Life,” his story of overcoming alcoholism.
Hamill, who is 73 years old, walked in around 10 a.m. and stayed until 11:30. He wore a black sweater and had beard stubble. The class was watching a video about Twitter and, surprisingly, he seemed to know all about it.
He began discussing his own past, from growing up in Brooklyn, walking on the Brooklyn Bridge with his mother after seeing “The Wizard of Oz,”
“New York is about the remaking of the self,” he said. “You are not a prisoner of where you are born.”
He told us he moved to Mexico in 1955 with hopes of being a painter. Instead he became a writer. He mentioned his first marriage. “Almost all journalists have a marriage that’s sort of like spring training,” he said.
Hamill seemed bored talking about his personal life. He half-joked “I don’t know what this has to do with journalism,” when he was asked about his first marriage. His face lit up, though, when he discussing historical figures and his history in journalism.
He gave advice to young journalists in the digital age, telling us to “Professionalize the internet. Make sure it’s not therapy – not a hobby.”
Hamill told the class the best way to be successful is to pick one thing you love and develop it furiously. “You have to recognize that you can’t be everything,” he said.
Hamill said his most fascinating interview was jazz drummer Max Roach. “He came out of the block power revolt more human, not less,” he said.
I didn’t realize from Hamill’s writing how funny the man is. Our professor, Betty Ming Liu, asked him for 5 things he hates about New York. He gave us six:
1. Starbucks, especially the two one block from one another near Cooper Union.
2. People talking on cell phones in restaurants
3. Women who say “’like’ six or seven times in the same sentence.”
4. Kids who aren’t playing in the streets in Brooklyn, instead having a “digital childhood.”
5. Women with strollers rolling around kids who are “about 9 years old.”
6. The disappearance of bookstores.
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yeah, i think we surprised pete when we started asking him about his life beyond journalism. then again, my feeling is that the thing which makes journalism so fab is that it's about life experience -- for starters, we get a lot of life experience out of chasing stories. and we get to write about other people's life experiences. doesn't get better than that! so i'm curious...what did you think of his visit? did you have a favorite moment? did anything wow you or surprise you?
ReplyDeletebetty so sorry I did not answer this post sooner ... the comments go to an e-mail I never check, so I didn't see it. I loved the Hamill visit. My favorite moment was probably my one-on-one conversation with him about writing the liner notes to Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks." He remembered being in the studio with Dylan while he was recording the album and Mick Jagger was there. Hamill said he knew him "casually." And then he said Jagger took Dylan aside after recording the track "Shelter from the Storm." They talked for a long time, then Jagger left. When Hamill asked what they were talking about, Dylan said "He said the songs great but the track sucks." So Dylan re-recorded the entire album over again. I had never heard that anecdote about the album before. His down to earth nature also surprised me, I think he acts a little different on Imus in the Morning.
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