Great Americans Stories Of Resilience And Joy In Everyday Life [Paperback]

Great Americans: Stories of Resilience and Joy in Everyday Life is a collection of 30 of my favorite and most inspiring stories from 30 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer. I was a Pulitzer Prize winning staff writer there until late 2015, and concentrated on human interest stories and narratives. I am a storyteller and believe profoundly in the power of stories to inspire, to bring people together, and to change the world. My compass point as a writer has long been a quote by William Faulkner from his Nobel Prize winning speech. He said that it is the writer's privilege and duty to help man endure by lifting his heart. In my own small way, in a career in daily newspapers, I've tried to do that. I chose these stories in particular because they highlight our spirit and sacrifice and determination and commitment and goodness. Most of these people in this book faced and overcame incredible adversities. They are indeed Great Americans. With a lifetime of stories to choose from, selection was a challenge. I tried to include stories of different lengths, stories that reflected important milestones in my writing life, stories that generated huge responses from readers, stories that just stuck with me. The book also has other features that I think are very important. At the end of virtually every story I've added a postscript. This includes an update on the subject of the profile, and a discussion or focus on one element of the writing. In addition to being a source of pleasure for anyone who loves to read great stories, I hope this book can also serve as an excellent teaching tool for aspiring feature writers. I include a list of many rules and tools of writing and reporting that I've learned over a lifetime. And I expand on many of these writing points at my website, www.michaelvitez.com/great-americans. There is one other component to this book. I've include five of my own personal stories, short narratives about my life that reflect on and highlight my own developmelS)