In transit back from a Now the Hell Will Start reading in Monroe, N.C.—birthplace of Herman Perry, the book’s main character. More tomorrow; in the meantime, check out the above—a tribute to Teddy Weatherford‘s heyday in Calcutta, when “The Seagull” starred at the Grand Hotel. It’s the handiwork of close pal and fellow traveler Susheel Kurien, who’s currently putting together a movie about the hidden history of Indian jazz.
scottstev // Jan 31, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Fantastic video. I loved the story as well btw. You could do a great film with Langston Hughes in Shanghai.
Do you see this cross-world collaboration (having someone in another continent becoming your eyes and ears) becoming more common as journalism adjusts to the new financial realities?
Brendan I. Koerner // Jan 31, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Awesome, glad you liked “Piano Demon.” Yeah, the Hughes section is a favorite–we went back and forth on the long blockquote about his last day in Shanghai, but I’m happy that we ended up using it. Very hard to do for the audio version, though…
Great question re: collboration. Would have loved to have visited Calcuta myself for this one, but didn’t have the time/money. But I don’t think the story suffered, because I was able to hire a great stringer (plus kick around ideas with Susheel). If the model of the future is shorter pieces with quicker deliveries, then, yeah, we’ll have to be more picky with our research dollars. But that doesn’t mean an end to first-hand travel–it just means more judicious travel.