Satan for Mayor?!

continued

Over the past two decades, I've conducted hundreds of interviews, and written dozens of profiles for publication. I’ve been written about dozens of times, and given interviews to newspaper and radio journalists throughout the United States. It’s an art form to write a profile that captures the essence of an individual in a way that makes readers feel as though, through words, a meaningful discussion has taken place. I’ve written for the Ann Arbor Observer for many years, and have known its editor, John Hilton, for close to twenty years. John kindly offered me the chance to talk about the recent profile done by James Leonard and published in the July 2010 issue of the magazine.

To begin, let me say that as a writer I appreciate the time and effort Jim put into his piece, and the effort I know John put into it as the editor. Jim went back and reconstructed history, as it were, to find materials and interviews for his piece, as the events he wrote about, in several instances, took place when my eldest son was in kindergarten (He’ll be an 8th grader this fall!). I hold a digital copy of the hours of interviews Jim and I did, and I can tell you that the piece was not completely accurate. I told Jim that I served on the nominating committee for the Northside PTO, but I did so as a parent volunteer—not as a member of the PTO board.