From time to time I look back at the stories we’ve published over the past ten years – first as The Big Roundtable and since 2019 as the Delacorte Review – to see if I can detect patterns that would allow me to define what kind of stories we run. People ask and I’d like to be able to come up with a pithy reply.
Shapiro was the best teacher students could have-- he cared about us after, long after we graduated.
I owe my whole career to him; same is true of many many of his students.
Honestly, I would've hung it up if it wasn't for him-- at the time I came out of school, with no work experience & a recession, there was no way into a good journalism job (tried working in cheerleader business journalism, only jobs available, lasted a month) unless you had a very very good in.
I wanted to write, report so badly at that time, was young and so hungry, had all this passion and energy and there was just nothing. That feeling of frustration, feeling stifled after 5 years of living and breathing journalism in college and grad school and then all of a sudden nothing -- so hard, drives you crazy.
Was working construction and staying up all night every night sending packages to every newspaper in America and a few overseas. And nothing.
Miserable depressing bored as hell 8 hour days of manual labor with headphones on listening to books on tape to keep me sane.
Shapiro ran into me by chance when I was selling books on the street for a couple of days at a table I set up near Columbia (also struggling financially so I'm trying to hustle).
He was appalled. He believed in me so much, believed I had talent and I should be writing and he did something about it, he did a lot about it.
Shapiro was the best teacher students could have-- he cared about us after, long after we graduated.
I owe my whole career to him; same is true of many many of his students.
Honestly, I would've hung it up if it wasn't for him-- at the time I came out of school, with no work experience & a recession, there was no way into a good journalism job (tried working in cheerleader business journalism, only jobs available, lasted a month) unless you had a very very good in.
I wanted to write, report so badly at that time, was young and so hungry, had all this passion and energy and there was just nothing. That feeling of frustration, feeling stifled after 5 years of living and breathing journalism in college and grad school and then all of a sudden nothing -- so hard, drives you crazy.
Was working construction and staying up all night every night sending packages to every newspaper in America and a few overseas. And nothing.
Miserable depressing bored as hell 8 hour days of manual labor with headphones on listening to books on tape to keep me sane.
Shapiro ran into me by chance when I was selling books on the street for a couple of days at a table I set up near Columbia (also struggling financially so I'm trying to hustle).
He was appalled. He believed in me so much, believed I had talent and I should be writing and he did something about it, he did a lot about it.
He gave me a life. Can't thank him enough.
And I'm not the only one.