By Timothy Egan
NY Times - January 28, 2009, 10:00 pm
Read on here.PORTLAND, Ore. — The politician was in his 40s, a rising star, a man with the pilot light of ambition burning bright. The intern was just 17, sorting through emotions about his sexuality, a boy who said he needed someone to mentor him in the political world.
They had an affair, just kisses at first, the teenager said. And then, after his 18th birthday, sex, and a relationship that was hidden from the public eye.
Came the mayor’s race and allegations of the affair. The politician, with the sturdy patriotic name of Sam Adams, denounced the rumors as scurrilous — they played to the worst stereotypes about homosexual predators, he said. How dare you.
I liked the turns of phrase, such as "pilot light of ambition turning bright" and "He could talk a dog off a meat wagon."
I also liked how the write broadened the story, juxtaposing the "old lesson in timeless and tawdry human weakness" with a progressive place known for being a "city of firsts."
I think that even in news stories we can look for the broader human tale in the specific, local things we write about.
David
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