advertisement

Remembering Mr. Apple

If there's one truth I've learned in journalism it's that you often get your best sound bites where you least expect it. So when a group of people sat down in Ann Arbor near the University of Michigan on Oct. 18, 2000, to watch a presidential debate and then comment for one R.W. Apple, I was there to observe and learn as a student, but technically I was just there to pour the coffee. I didn't know at the time that the man moderating the discussion after one of the debates between Al Gore and now President Bush had done more in journalism than I could ever imagine or aspire to. I didn't know he had a tireless appetite for news, specifically politics, and later, food and wine. I couldn't know that only one election cycle later I would study him almost exclusively among the giants of political reporters to prepare for my turn as a "boy on the bus" for NBC News during the 2004 presidential primaries.

Johnny Apple asked a lot of questions that night, but he listened just as intently. He got thoughtful and honest responses from around the room, but he probed deeper into insights and asked remarkable follow-up questions that elicited sometimes fun, sometimes challenging remarks. I remember being amazed at his ease and handle of the room. I listened intently, almost spilling coffee more than once. At one point he turned to me and asked me what I thought, which was a surprise to not only me but also to my employer. Apple wanted a female student's opinion and it was noticeably absent. Without knowing his remarkable career, I was not too phased to tell him exactly what I thought about both Vice President Gore and then-Gov. Bush's performance. What I didn't know was the breadth and reach of this man's words. Specifically, that it would end up in a stylish but cutting news analysis on the front page for the New York Times and my U-of-M inbox would be flooded with opinions from strangers for quite some time. His political reporting, I later learned, was thorough, relentless, often passionate and at times ferocious. His career was exceptional in every sense. He was a tremendous influence on me from that point on, but I never thanked him for it and I should have. I have often told people who ask me about the campaign trail to study his style, his career, his prose. Learn the good and the bad. The education is well worth it.  2008 won't be the same...

Read more from Marisa Buchanan

R.I.P. Johnny Apple

EMAIL THIS