Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Hermitage

A prominent American recluse made headlines the other day.

No, I'm not talking about J.D. Salinger, whose passing was marked by, among countless others, my friends over at Emdashes (click here for their impressionistic takes, New Yorker-related and otherwise).

Nor am I talking about the usually playoff-phobic New Orleans Saints, who gave their troubled city something to be happy about for a change. There was also Groundhog Day, when the international media focused on bashful rodent Punxsutawney Phil, but I'm not talking about him either. (Not to be a killjoy, but there are always 6+ more weeks of winter after February 2. Winter ends on March 21.)

So who am I talking about? Why, Bill Watterson, of course. The publicity-shy Calvin & Hobbes creator quietly gave his first interview in over 20 years, a predictably low-key email exchange with a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter. You can read it here.

Then click here for the meta-story of how an obscure feature writer who'd never even met Watterson in person landed one of the more prized and elusive interviews in modern journalism.

Tip credit: BOBB&B Justin B.

1 comment:

Paul said...

Awesome post, Ben! Thanks for posting the link to the Watterson interview.