Gene Weingarten
Gene Weingarten
Gene Weingartenis a Washington Post columnist and American two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for both his serious and humorous work. Weingarten's column, Below the Beltway, is published weekly in the Washington Post Magazine and syndicated nationally by The Washington Post Writers Group, which also syndicates Barney & Clyde, a comic strip he co-authors...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth2 October 1951
CountryUnited States of America
call capital persuasive seat work
Because I live and work in Washington, D.C., I have a ringside seat at the world capital of The Persuasive Arts, or, as I like to call it, The Opinions Racket.
pain spring disease
It is a cliche, and it is also true, that humor springs from existential pain - from a need to blunt the awareness that life is essentially a fatal disease of unpredictable symptoms and unknown duration.
sobriety hart found
Johnny Hart became much less funny after he found sobriety, and religion, around the same time.
splendid
Shakespeare was such a splendid vulgarian.
talking phones giving
I once found myself driving, smoking a cigar, taking notes, and talking on the phone at the same time. I only became completely aware of this when I had to shift, and realized something had to give.
mistake believe college
I do not believe in public shaming. I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will almost inevitably result in their making mistakes and misjudgments and otherwise acting badly.
use weight comic
Every single fat comic uses his weight as a punchline. There is something sad about that.
atheist sorry hate
I don't think there is prejudice against atheists the same way there is prejudice against fat people. I don't think people hate or contemn atheists; I think people feel sorry for atheists.
best felt good great writer
I felt like I was never going to be a great writer. I felt like I was going to be a good writer at best. I wanted to be great at something.
few people pulitzer
The Pulitzer is a crapshoot. Your piece has to hit a few people the right way at the right moment.
comics early flat joe
I have two favorites: Reading Kierkegaard while listening to Mozart's Piano Concerto 9 in E Flat Major, and reading early Bazooka Joe comics in Hebrew.
based concept deliver love magic ours parent secular
What if this world of ours is not based on presumptions of magic? What if this world is really 'What we see is what we get'... Would that be so bad? ... There is a secular magic in everything around us. The world is beautiful. We have love; we should take care of each other. That is not a frightening concept for any parent to deliver to a child.
guy notice pass remind
When you are interviewing someone, don't just write down what he says. Ask yourself: Does this guy remind you of someone? What does the room feel like? Notice smells, voice inflection, neighborhoods you pass through. Be a cinematographer.