Going Home

Good answer?

Jonathan Morgan and I found ourselves on the other side of the microphone this afternoon when a film crew from the “Columbia Journalism Review” interviewed us about “Going Home” and our hands-on work around McNichols and Van Dyke.

I must admit, being interviewed is one of my least favorite things in the world. For the most part, I’m an introvert and very shy. Those of you who had to suffer through my speech at the Holy Name reunion dinner saw firsthand how much I struggle in the spotlight.

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Sitting on the porch of an abandoned house on Mt. Olivet Street – right next door to the home we rented in the mid-1960s, before my parents bought on Dobel Street – I muddled through the 40-minute interview today. I rambled on a lot, as I usually do, but I think I found the right words to a very poignant question about the relevance of activism in journalism today.

I was asked by Michael Meyer – the one with the questions, not behind the camera – if becoming too involved in a story, actually taking sides, was a problem.

I looked around, thought about it briefly and said:

“The way I see it, the two sides in this neighborhood are making it better or not making it better. And how can you be against making it better?”

For the people who know me well, they’re fully aware that I’m my own worst critic; I’m rarely happy with what I do or say.

On this rare occasion, I really liked my answer.

It must have been sent from above – likely from the same Guy who sent a street cleaner (yes, a street cleaner, the first in more than a decade) down Mt. Olivet today.

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