Ground Zero on a Winter Morning
ALB alumnus James Tobin published an account of a winter-night visit to Ground Zero
James Tobin
I wrote about 9/11 because, like most people, I was saturated by sound bites, 24/7 news, and the solemn faces of newscasters. I wanted my story to be personal, therefore adding sense to the tragedy in my way. I didn’t want it to be a neatly wrapped story but instead an intense flow of feeling, so I did not straightjacket it into a particular genre. The night out in New York was a good way to carry the story, and even going to Ground Zero at 5 am was spontaneous, although one could argue a writer is always looking to shake up the action of life and capture its new fallen energy.
I wrote my first draft for Intermediate Memoir with Professor Dorothy Austin, a gifted writer herself. Writing classes are good places to turn out writing that may become workable pieces. Your ego is at stake because you have to read to an audience. You read some of the masters of the written word and are excited by the power of words on the page. This combo makes you want to turn in something magical. I submitted my work to Citizen Culture, a newly launched national magazine for young intellectuals, based in New York. The story was published in February 2005.
(To read Tobin’s article download* Citizen Culture issue four. The article is on page 38.)
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