Murray Kempton (1917–1997) was a columnist, or as he preferred to say, a newspaper reporter, writing for the New York Post, Newsday, the New York Review of Books, and any other publication lucky enough to land him. Going Around collects pieces that span his life, from his college days to the instructions he left for his funeral.
The title is his phrase for his workday routine. Although he filed dispatches from vacation spots (Italy) and trouble spots (El Salvador, the Jim Crow South), he did most of his work in the city. He would consult the AP wire in the morning for items of interest, bicycle to the relevant spot (always in jacket and tie), look, talk to the people he found, and write it up.
Comments