Sam Cook
When I first read through the articles as well as some of Sam Cook’s blog posts and articles for the DNT, I wasn’t his biggest fan. But after taking a second look a few days later I couldn’t believe how much of a difference I saw in his writing, maybe I was distracted on the first read, or I just didn’t know what to expect. But his writing really spoke to me in a way it had not initially.
The way that he is able to describe a simple scene in a way that brings life to it without using an extreme amount of detail is almost beautiful in my opinion. In his most recent blog post on winter one quote that i thought exemplified this was when he said “looking at the waning moon through tendrils of oak branches against the emerging blue sky.” Not only does this paint a vivid picture in your mind of what exactly he is looking at, it also tells of how much he understands about nature in general. You can confirm this throughout the rest of his writing as he is always able to take a short moment to describe the scene with just a hint more of information but not taking it too far as to take away from the story. Some of this attention to detail I can see him picking up because of his interest in John McPhee, who describes every aspect of a scene so clearly that you feel like you are there. In his passage about ice it is detailed but also broken up in short sentences especially in reference to the places or types of ice causing you to stop and think about each as an individual and not just a part of the general idea of ice.
Another aspect of his writing that i really enjoyed was how much of a storyteller he is. There were no points when i truly felt that I was reading an article as he finds depth in the nature or in the people he is talking to in a way that is more storytelling than brute journalism. His attention to detail and ability to describe these details that turn the beat into a story are so subtle that you tend to not notice them. In the article about turkey hunting, he at one point says “Easton picked up a stick that resembled a scaled down shotgun and rested it on his shoulder, walking along beside his mom, the two of them talking quietly.” This is not only such an intimate moment between son and mother, it is also something that could be so easily overlooked or left out, but this is what he is able to pick up on to give his stories a depth that makes him stand out from other journalists.
I would really like to know how he goes about his interviews, does he just allow himself to be a bystander without much intervention and let the scenery and subjects do the talking or does he take a more active role that we don’t see as much portrayed in the writing. I would also like to learn how he goes about choosing which details to include and which to leave out, which ones make the story and which would overwhelm the reader.