Read | 05. Jan 2021

My Kind Of Guy

You might at least have heard about that famous piece of journalism called "Frank Sinatra has a cold", first printed in then It-magazine "Esquire" in 1966. The monthly was called the birthplace of "new journalism", publishing writers of the moment like Truman Capote or Tom Wolfe among others.

When Guy Talese was signed to do an interview with Frank Sinatra - the superstar would turn 50 that year, so the magazine wanted to honour him with a coverstory - he went to see the singer in Los Angeles, then Las Vegas, then Miami - but never managed to actually talk; Sinatra had a cold and did not want any publicity whatsoever.

So Talese talked to almost one hundred people who belonged to the inner circle of Sinatra, finding out details the singer would never ever have told him. He got more information about the "Rat Pack" by watching that group of actors and actresses instead of talking about them, he found out about Sinatra´s generosity - how he used to pay his friend´s hospital bills as their Christmas gift. Or his very specificly qualified assistants, like the “little grey-haired lady who allegedly earned $400 a week carrying his hairpieces around in a satchel".

Read this story in one of Talese´s books, that sample more pieces of him: Muhamed Ali, Joe DiMaggio oder Hugh Hefner, I have one copy since I started to write for magazines, and I still read in it now and then. Or listen to him talking about his very determined way of talking and listening to people.

How we all crave for his credo "to get our asses up from our couches" in order to get our informations by being out and about instead of just doing research online.

One fine day, when we finally might leave our homes again to meet strangers.

Pictures courtesy of airmail.news

Please feel invited to get back to me with any opinion about this Guy´s way of writing and his times, for that matter - at lf@lfeldmannrommelt.com