politics | Brian Jay Jones

Category Archives: politics

Remembering Ted Sorensen (1928-2010)

Posted on November 1, 2010 | 3 comments

Ted Sorensen — Presidential adviser, ghostwriter, biographer, and perhaps the finest political speechwriter in modern times — passed away yesterday at the age of 82. There’s a nice piece on him in The Boston Globe right here.

Sorensen — who often joked that his last name would be misspelled as “Sorenson” in his obituary (it wasn’t) — was not only one of the guiding hands behind Kennedy’s famous inaugural speech, but also collaborated on Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage. He was a classy guy who treated his work as a speechwriter and ghostwriter exactly the way one should: when asked which turns of phrase he was responsible for, Sorensen always deferred to his boss —

Is the author the person who did much of the research and helped choose the words in many of its sentences, or is the author the person who decided the substance, structure, and theme of the book; read and revised each draft; inspired, constructed, and improved the work? Like JFK’s speeches, ‘Profiles in Courage’ was a collaboration. . . I know exactly where the credit ultimately lies — with JFK.

Nice.

Sorensen was also one of the first biographers of Kennedy, publishing Kennedy in 1965.

I’m sorry he’s gone, but I’m sure glad he was here. You probably didn’t know his name or his face, but you definitely knew his words.

3 Comments

Posted in politics, r.i.p., speech writers

Tagged JFK, Ted Sorensen

Joe The Writer

Posted on October 24, 2008 | 9 comments

Anyone catch the reference to Joe The Plumber’s search for a book deal, as reported on last night’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann? In case you missed it, here’s a bit from Keith Olbermann’s related blog entry over on Daily Kos:

I just managed to drop this in to tonight’s “Campaign Comment” and there aren’t a lot more details to be had, but I learned during Countdown tonight that Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher is now seeking a deal to write a book about his campaign experience.

This is from an unimpeachable source in the publishing industry, past whom very little in the field, gets. Good old all-American Joe, who has no motive whatsoever but keeping the electorate informed, who is the salt of the earth and the definition of America (now that Governor Palin isn’t, any more) is hoping to cash in.

So, my fellow writers . . . most of whom have been writing for years, working hard to secure representation, and striving to perfect your craft to persuade an agent to take you on and/or a publisher to invest in your work . . . politics aside, how ya feelin’ now?

Me, I’ll be putting a sign up in my yard offering my services as a plumber. It’s only fair — because, after all, anyone can do that, too, right?