"There are drawbacks that lend a poignancy to many encounters. Reporters are like cops in yet another way: We suddenly appear in someone's life at a crucial, often emotional point, suddenly their best friend, confessor, defendent, confidant, and shoulder-to-cry-on. We share the same foxhole for a short time, then we are gone with our story, slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am. It is often difficult for both of us. Sometimes I feel very close to the people I interview. They share their intimate secrets and pain, they tell me things they never told anyone--mostly because other people were too polite to ask."Often, particularly with the elderly or with the young and bereft, we become such pals that as I leave, they ask, "When are you coming back?" The answer, of course, is probably never. Tomorrow I will be thrust into some new close encounter with somebody else I may never see again.
"The problem is, I truly like some of these people and want to reach out to them. I would be their friend if circumstances we different and we had met some other way. But it is unprofessional to become involved with anyone you write about. And the daily whirlwind of news leaves little time for anything, much less the nurturing of new friends."
- Edna Buchanan in The Corpse Had A Familiar Face
Photo "Victim Tied with Rope" by Roy Botterell courtesy Corbis
1 comment:
I loved Edna's second book. I believe KK recommended it to me. I had written hundreds of crime stories, but I believe, after reading (devouring) that book, I became a better reporter, and writer and, perhaps, human being.
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