David Halberstam

David Halberstam, who died this morning in a car accident, wasn't a great writer. But he was one of the best, and most important, reporters of our time. I remember interviewing him about a book he did on Michael Jordan a few years ago, a book he did despite the unwillingness of Jordan to grant him access. That got Halberstam to explain to me how he does his job. I don't have the exact quotes, but what he said stuck with me.

Halberstam described doing as many interviews as humanly possible. He talked to the people nobody would think of talking to... the freshman year roommate, the assistant coach, the third-string catcher. Then, at a certain point, he knew he had enough material to move forward with the writing.

This might seem basic, but too many writers are either lazy, or simply don't understand the value of digging for material. Those are the writers who pay the price when it's time to write, and somehow the material hasn't created itself.

Here's my Salon interview with Halberstam.