Everyday Thoughts
Getting the Story But Missing the Point
I have interviewed one famous person in my writing career, and he was a doozy in the best sense of the word. Unfortunately, in my eagerness to achieve journalistic acclaim less than one year after graduating from college, I missed the best part of his story.
As a new reporter for the Pekin Daily Times in late 1987 or early 1988, I interviewed Richard “Dick” Stolley. The assignment was to cover a lecture by the founding managing editor of People magazine and then interview him. After meeting Stolley in a Bradley University classroom in Peoria, I suggested conducting the interview in the cantina at Chi Chi’s Mexican Restaurant.
(Real classy, I know, but I had worked there for a few months before taking a $100 a week pay cut when I landed a job in my chosen field. It was familiar, more so than Bradley University’s library, which should have been the obvious choice. Fortunately, Stolley was an amiable guy who allowed me to be comfortable.)
