“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ~ Douglas Adams
As I sat in the audience at the recent Press Club of Long Island awards ceremony last week, intently listening to the words of one of our Hall of Fame honorees, the legendary writer and reporter Harvey Aronson, I was struck by the notion that one could choose a particular career to pursue and, so many years later {at the tender age of 89}, remain just as devoutly passionate about it. As he eloquently put it, “I wanted to be a writer… and so I became one.”
The simplest sentiments are often the most poignant.
In addition to his illustrious career as a groundbreaking journalist, Harvey has also devoted quite a number of decades to the pursuit of teaching his craft to the next generation. Though I wasn’t fortunate to be enrolled in one of his classes myself, I certainly had my fair share of stellar professors through the years, some whom I reflected upon as I soaked in every word spoken by this fascinating man as he stood before the assembled crowd of media elite.
Perhaps most striking was his own amazement as he recounted, in quite vivid detail, a few of his more notable experiences as a journalist over the better part of the last 65 years. From witnessing the desegregation of a school in Alabama, to covering President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, to even writing for a stint at Cosmopolitan under the tutelage of the famed Helen Gurley Brown, Harvey seemed to be similarly awed by the history he had borne witness to and, in many instances, played an integral role in himself.
Visibly choked up as he spoke of JFK and the promise of a better nation taken from us far too soon, he shared the content of a letter written to him by then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, stating, in part, “Thank you for your words on my brother… they brought great comfort.” The notion that a local reporter covering a national tragedy could evoke a response on that level is pretty special indeed.
May we all strive to have such an indelible impact as Mr. Aronson… may we all find that one thing - or several, as the case may be - that elicits a level of passion great enough to sustain a career into our golden years. That, above all else, is an achievement greater than any honor an organization can possibly bestow.
Published: June 13, 2018