Old School: Jonathan Shainin

I was all set to turn in for the night, when I came across this piece about Jonathan Shainin. I was lucky enough to write two pieces that Jonathan commissioned and one that he picked up after the London Review of Books pulled the rug out from under our agreement, and I can say that he is hands down the single best editor I have ever worked. Really, the guy was a dream. Oh, and the 4 am stories are true.

I’m sure every writer who worked with Jonathan has a favorite story: I have two. One was an hour-long phone call we had discussing the Huthi conflict, talk about a curious and engaged editor who wanted to get the story right. The second was a truncated call as I was screaming into the wind in Pentagon City and he was wrestling with a taxi in Dubai.

Seriously, if you read anything today read this article. If all newspapers were like this, we would all be a lot smarter.