Chronicling the Courageous
Stephan Talty’ ssubjectsare caught up in history, and often changeit WRITTEN BY CINDYSCHWEICHHANDLER
PORTRAIT: COURTESY OFNATHACHA VILCEUS; COVERS: COURTESY OFSTEPHAN TALTY
Outwardly, Napoleon Bonaparte, the young Dalai Lama and the Somali pirate-beset Captain Phillips would appear to have little in common. Inwardly, though, it’ s a different story: At some point in their lives, each displayed extraordinary willpower to overcome overwhelming obstacles. Montclair resident, novelist and New York Times best-selling author Stephan Talty has recounted their stories and those of other survivors innumerous narrative nonfiction and ghost-written works. His recent book,“ Under the Same Sky: From Starvation inNorth Korea to Salvation in America,” garnered Christopher Awards – given to authors whose work“ affirms the highest values of the human spirit” – for himself and the story’ shero, Joseph Kim.
WHERE DID YOU FIRST HONE YOUR ABILITY TO FIND GOOD STORIES? My second job after college was at the Miami Herald’ s Fort Lauderdale bureau, where I worked as anews clerk and second police reporter. South Florida is a madhouse, and I got to do interesting, crazy stuff. It’ s every journalist’ s ambition to have his work appear on page A1 above the fold, and Igot my chancewhen aguy walked along abridge right down the street from the bureau. When the bridgeraised up, he thoughthecould beat it and run to the other side, but he plunged 60 feet and died.
HOW DID YOU SEGUE TO WRITING BOOKS? I’ d always been afan of hip-hop, and during the RodneyKing era, so many books were about the disastrous relationship between whites and blacks. But the other side of the story is thatwe borrow from each other. I looked at our interactions in sports, history and religion, and thatwas the genesisof“ Mulatto America: At the Crossroads of Black and White History.”
WHAT DRAWS YOU TOA PARTICULAR STORY?
I didn’ t notice till a few books in that I was writing about people who, through their owntalents and stubbornness, playedan outsized partinhistory. In“ EmpireofBlue Water,” Iwriteabout Henry Morgan, abuccaneerwho changed the Caribbean by fighting the Spanish empire.“ The Illustrious Dead” is about how typhuspreyedonNapoleon’ s hugearmies and impacted the invasion of Russia. Itry to combine adventure and ideas, so it’ s morethoughtful.
WHATSURVIVAL SKILLS SEEMMOSTHELPFUL?
Before Joseph Kim escaped from North Koreaacross a frozen river to China, his sister was sold into slavery, his motherwas in jail, and his father died in front of his eyes. He had to shut down emotionally, but likemanyof my protagonists, hefound motivation outside himself to keep going. He wants to go back and find his sister. Captain Phillips had to get home for his vulnerable son. Brendan McDonough, the lone survivor of the fire inYarnell, Arizona, speaks to others to make his pain useful. These guys learned to forgive themselves for not being superhuman.
HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR PROJECTS? Ikeep alist while reading the newspaper and the internet, but they’ re getting harder to find. Iget agreat idea, and Amazon shows thatsomeone wrote about it two years ago. Though an editor I’ dformerly worked with recommended me for the Captain Phillips project.
WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES UNIQUE TO GHOST-WRITING? You have to dolots of interviews with theperson and listen to them overand overtoget the voice and the rhythmofthe sentences right.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO MONTCLAIR? Three years ago, we were looking forahouse, and we were priced out of Brooklyn. Whenwe looked in Montclair, my sonlovedthe third housewe walked into. Montclair has Brooklyn qualities. ■
HOLIDAY 2016 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE 45