Jonathan Schuppe
Photo Credit: Kolin Smith
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About the Author
Jonathan Schuppe is an award-winning journalist who has won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey’s resignation as well as the coveted J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize for A Chance to Win. He is also on the board of directors of Criminal Justice Journalists. He lives with his wife and daughter in New Jersey.
A Conversation With the Author
Where are you from?
Born in St. Louis, raised in New Jersey, live in Manhattan
Who are your favorite writers?
Richard Price, David Simon, Jonathan Lethem, Alice Munro, Truman Capote, Edward P. Jones, Junot Diaz
Which book/books have had the biggest influence on your writing?
I was a science-fiction and fantasy freak as a kid, and though my writing bears little resemblance to Isaac Asimov's or Orson Scott Card's or C.S. Lewis', they ignited my love of reading, which, of course, set me on my path to becoming a writer. Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff and The Electric Kook-Aid Acid Test, both of which I read as a young man, introduced me to narrative journalism, and from there I jumped to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels. These four books made me want to become a reporter. I devoured collections of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, whose spare observations I emulated in my newspaper work. As I began covering inner cities, I kept a copy of The Corner by David Simon on my desk in the newsroom to remind me not to lose empathy with the people I write about. Similar inspiration came from Edward P. Jones' Lost in the City; I gave my copy to a young man who had been my guide for a story about an open-air drug market. We've lost touch, but I hope the book helped give him strength to follow his dreams.
What are your hobbies and outside interests?
Golf with my dad. The St. Louis Cardinals
What is the single best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?
"Write faster."My first editor at my first daily newspaper job would stand over me and say this, day after day, until it actually started to sink in. I still struggle, though, and the reason probably has something to do with my answer to the next question.
What is your favorite quote?
"I always like to hang out, because, one, it's a way of avoiding really writing; and, two, sometimes God is a crackerjack novelist and you can plagiarize the hell out of him."-Richard Price
What is the question most commonly asked by your readers? What is the answer?
"How do you get people to talk to you?"To be a reporter is to be an outsider. I have been yelled at, been laughed at, wilted under unblinking death-stares and dodged countless slamming doors. All part of the job. But any good reporter knows that the job also requires that you figure out how to bridge that gap. For me, what works best is sincerity. I never try to pretend to be someone I'm not. I approach people directly and in a straightforward manner and explain exactly what I'm trying to do. Sometimes it can take days or weeks or months, so persistence is important, too - as is knowing when to stop. But I've found that it you are honest and respectful of the people whose lives you are interrupting, most will be honest and respectful to you.
What inspired you to write your first book?
When I met Rodney Mason and his baseball team, it required me to step out of a beat I'd been covering for years. For too long, as a crime reporter, I was writing day after day about bad things. On the street, people would see me coming and point out that I only showed up when something terrible was happening. Why don't you ever tell good stories? they asked. And they were right. Following the Eagles was refreshing and eye-opening for me, and I could see how much people appreciated what I was doing. When my original article about Mason and the Eagles was published, people from around the country wrote to say how they had inspired them. But I knew there was much more to tell, that the subjects' stories revealed broader truths about life in a modern American inner city. At the same time, the newspaper where I worked, The Star-Ledger, was in financial free-fall, and its future was in serious doubt. To pare payroll, they were offering generous buyouts to members of the newsroom. That was the final push I needed to embark on this project.
Where do you write?
Anywhere I can be alone. That isn't easy in New York City, with a toddler at home. I wrote most of this book in the apartment of a friend, while she was at work or away.