First heard that quote years ago, and it came to mind recently while trying to think of a way to illustrate versatility. I've had it in every job I ever had.
So this story starts with long drive.
* * *
I arrive on time for full-gamut interviews at a really good newspaper. Time has been scheduled in four departments — features, sports, breaking news/rewrite and even the editorial writing types. Even early in my career, I had clips — actual cut-out clippings from a newspaper — in all those areas.
In those days, metro daily newsrooms were big, noisy places. Sitting in the features department, I started talking about fireworks, how the 4th of July was coming up. They are designed after flowers. They can be synchronized to music. George Plimpton, known as a reporter who tried to play pro sports, was an expert in them and worth an interview.
At the rewrite desk, I talked about the importance of going the extra mile, making one more call. I did a sample on shortening a story, and trimmed almost half. I told the story of getting soaking wet at a huge fire going into places on the wrong side of the rope.
I had hustled that scene for more than an hour when a local TV anchor — George Clooney's dad — pulled up in a company car. He handed his card to an incident commander who had been too busy to talk to me. "Call me at 10:30," he said before heading back to his car and driving away.
In sports I talked about the personality types of football players. Centers are the smartest, wide receivers are divas. I talked about coaches training people to run faster by having them sprint downhill. The conditioning came in jogging back up.
After a quick sandwich in the cafeteria, I was off to see the editorial writers. We talked protectionism, a controversial issue in those days ("I think I'm turning Japanese" was a hit song at the time). We talked about the importance of balancing interests. Protectionism makes sense in promoting emerging industries, as was the case in post-war Japan and Korea, but makes no sense when defending bloat, inefficiency and cronyism.
Being a reporter, you know how to talk to people, so the conversations had been lively, friendly — and draining. I had a feeling I was crushing it, but it was no time to be tired.
It was time to meet the executive editor.
It was a nice office, trappings of power, rank has its privileges, and we exchanged some pleasantries. I was thanking him for the opportunity to speak with so many departments when I noticed my manila envelope on the side of his desk, my resume and clippings halfway spilling out. So what did you think? What do you have in mind? And he replied:
"Oh, we don't have anything open right now. I just wanted to meet you. You wrote the best cover letter I've ever seen."
I cudda killed him.
* * *
My memory of that day pretty much ends right there. On the outside I'm sure I said something like "Thanks for the kind words" and I hope I was able to hide my disappointment. It was the first time in my life I interviewed for a job and didn't get it.
Turns out I used a version of that cover letter to land a job in another state a few months later. I don't know if he ever tried to get back in touch with me. I know I never tried to get in touch with him.
That other job, by the way, was with United Press International and it was what I affectionately called an 11-year hayride to hell. When I got there, it was a Top 10 job in journalism. By the time I left, after multiple bankruptcies and massive layoffs, it was a shadow of its former skeleton.
But things always work out in the end. With UPI in my rear-view mirror, I got a hunch that this world wide web thing just might take off.
And that worked out okay.
— October, 2022
Mr. Marshall, who speaks in third person in his italicized footers, believes American democracy would be in better shape if people still read a newspaper every day.