Writing. Pictures. Kings.

Gay Talese, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” It’s always a good day when I can introduce this classic essay to a new generation of students. One of the best essays ever written. In 1966, Esquire magazine assigned Gay Talese to write a profile of Frank Sinatra. But Sinatra being the diva that he was, he didn’t want to sit down for an interview. So Talese had to get creative and write around his subject. Proof that writing around can be as enlightening (or even more enlightening) than writing “in.” You can find the first part of the essay online. The entire essay is published in The Gay Talese Reader.

Gay Talese talking about why the essay would never be published today:

Hipstamatic. I had this app on a previous version of my phone, but never used it much so I had deleted it. I was showing an iPhone photography video to my class on Wednesday and the guy in the tutorial used Hipstamatic. The photos were so cool that I was inspired to download it again and really play around with it more this time.

King Richard III buried in Leicester Cathedral. The reburial of Richard III after 530 years caused some controversy because of his violent reign. But something about British royal rituals fascinate me, and I was intrigued by the ceremony that occurred earlier this week. I think what fascinates me is that these ceremonies are living history. Royal weddings and royal funerals have not changed for centuries. How Richard III was interred this week was how he would have been interred 530 years ago.