Staff Blog
Dispatch, by Mike Newall
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In this week's issue, CP launches a new feature, "Dispatch," by Mike Newall. You can read the first one, about one of the fugitives who turned himself in to the Safe Surrender program, here. We asked Mike to give Clog readers a better idea of what future Dispatches will be all about.
DT: The first "Dispatch" introduces us to James Williams, who turned himself in at the Fugitive Safe Surrender program last week. How did you persuade Williams to open up to you?
MN: James was sitting alone in one of the pews, waiting to see the judge. I approached him and asked if i could follow him through his hearing. After talking for a few minutes i realized how open and honest and interesting a person he is and asked if i could write a story about him. He said yes.
DT: What other kinds of subjects can we expect to see Dispatch cover?
MN: I write about people who are under the radar struggling to get to the middle --ordinary people who are screwed up in their own ways but who tell us a bit about who where we are now as a city.
DT: Tell me about the column's name.
MN: When I think of a "Dispatch," I think of a direct to-the-point missive filed from a foreign land or far off place. There are plenty of neighborhoods in Philly that seem foreign to readers since newspapers don't write about the people living there as honestly and often as they should. Hopefully, these stories will make those neighborhoods seem a little more closer to home.
DT: Tell me about some writers whose work you admire, who you'll be thinking about in crafting these columns.
MN: If i could write one column one-tenth as good as anything W.C. Heinz, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Dexter, Charlie LeDuff or Joseph Mitchell ever wrote I'd retire to Ireland and open a pub with happy hour every day from 4pm to 6pm and half-price soup on Thursdays.
