Man in Profile Quotes

“Shawn’s patience was an extension of the unorthodox philosophy the magazine always had about its writers—all flowing from founder Harold Ross. Writers were a different, difficult, balky, and inexplicable breed, Ross maintained, speaking from hard experience. Beyond that, different writers produced at different speeds and were motivated by different impulses. It was all very mysterious. Talent could perhaps be nudged, but it couldn’t be stampeded. Thus, according to Brendan Gill, “lack of productivity [at The New Yorker] is neither rebuked nor deplored. On the contrary, it may be sneakingly admired, as proof that the magazine considers writing an occupation often difficult and sometimes, for the best writers, impossible.”
― Thomas Kunkel, Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of The New Yorker

“At Liebling’s funeral, Mitchell offered the eulogy. The service was held at Frank E. Campbell’s celebrated funeral home at 81st and Madison, and Mitchell told the mourners that he and Liebling had come there together on a number of occasions—one time in particular, he recalled, for the funeral of an old newspaper colleague. In accord with the deceased’s wishes, Mitchell said, literally no words were spoken at the service. “Everybody sat for a while with his own thoughts,” he continued. “Some music was played, and then it was over. I was shocked by this, and, as Joe and I walked up the street afterwards, I said so, but Joe said that he wasn’t. I have forgotten his exact words, but he said something to the effect that it was the only funeral he had ever attended that he completely approved of.”
― Thomas Kunkel, Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of The New Yorker