J. R. Moehringer
J. R. Moehringer
John Joseph "J.R." Moehringeris an American novelist and journalist. In 2000 he won the Pulitzer Prize for newspaper feature writing...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth7 December 1964
CountryUnited States of America
teenager boys men
Long before it legally served me, the bar saved me. It restored my faith when I was a boy, tended me as a teenager, and when I was a young man the bar embraced me.
above admire beloved bookstores desk harvard money photos postcards spent time twain
Tacked above my desk are photos of artists I admire - Hopper, Sargent, Twain - and postcards from beloved bookstores where I've spent all my time and money - Tattered Cover, Elliot Bay, Harvard Bookstore.
bust great journalism meetings reporters rule sports sunshine time winning
There's that old journalism rule that sunshine is the great disinfectant - which is how reporters bust their way into meetings and such all the time. In sports, I really think winning is the great disinfectant.
admired although discovered extremely household mary poet widely
I'm a big fan of the poet Mary Jo Salter, and although she doesn't need to be discovered at all - she's widely admired and anthologized and extremely accomplished - I wish she were a household name.
collected publishers rejection since slips stuck suggested suggestion trying
I've been trying to write a book since before I was old enough to vote, and I've collected many rejection slips from publishers and magazines. I used to keep them all stuck to my refrigerator, with magnets, but an ex-girlfriend told me they were depressing, and defeatist, and suggested I take them down. A very wise suggestion on her part.
bulls defined nutty players professors sideline teams
Basketball's eras are defined by teams - Celtics, Lakers, Bulls - and baseball's epochs are defined by players - Ruth, Robinson, Mantle - but with football, it's the sideline strategists, the nutty professors and top coated Lears.
backyard belt credit dreams eternal football form game gets
Baseball always gets credit for the foundational part of masculinity - the father thing. The eternal game of backyard catch, 'Field of Dreams', the Ripkens, the Griffeys, the Bondses, so on. But football is the real paternal game, because it's a conveyor belt of father figures, in the form of coaches.
bad connection dad dads decisions deepest father food forged good lover maybe
My father was a food lover and a deadbeat dad, and maybe a connection between good food and bad dads was forged early, in the deepest folds of my subconscious, where we make so many decisions about our parents.
maybe slate tight whenever
Now, whenever I need to go online, I confine myself to a tight circle: Gmail, MLB.com, NYTimes.com, Slate and maybe Facebook.
food learned power respect
Food still isn't my thing, but I've learned to respect its power and significance.
subjects
You think you choose the subjects of your books. But sometimes, in ways you don't know, the books choose you.
definition lived love though
Vegas is like the old definition of writing: though I don't enjoy writing, I love having written. Though I didn't enjoy Vegas, I love having lived there.
asparagus cafe epic ground meals morning pulled san white
In Zurich, in a cafe overlooking the Limmat, I ate butter-drenched white asparagus pulled from the ground that morning; it had the aftertaste of champagne. I've been able to appreciate epic meals in San Francisco, New Orleans, Berlin, Paris, Las Vegas.
last laughing leave loving lucky matter serve somehow spend thank town visit
If you can live in Vegas, or visit Vegas, and leave in one piece, still loving it and somehow laughing about it, you should spend at least part of your last night in town doing something that will serve you well no matter where you go next: thank your lucky stars.