Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the interview with NPR's Howard Berkes.
Berkes points to a pile of colorful notebooks on the floor of McPhee's office at Princeton University.
By HOWARD BERKES
You might think writing comes easy to John McPhee.
He's been at it more than 40 years, after all, producing 27 books, writing for The New Yorker since 1964 and teaching writing at Princeton since 1975. And, oh yes, he has that Pulitzer Prize. All those years and words and accomplishments ought to add up to confidence – even hubris, perhaps – when turning a sea of complex detail, facts and characters into smoothly flowing narrative.
Death, be not proud: A green sequel on funerals
GRAVEMATTERS: A JOURNEY THROUGH THEMODERN FUNERAL INDUSTRY TO A NATURALWAY OF BURIAL
By Mark Harris Scribner, $24
Reviewed by JIM MOTAVALLI
Looking for some bedside reading with a high "eeewwww" factor?
You can't beat Mark Harris' "Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial."
BY TIM WHEELER
The environment has enjoyed a terrific run in "the media" lately. Climate change has pushed onto the front page of newspapers repeatedly in the past year. It's garnered extended airtime on CNN, Fox and other broadcast outlets, and graced the covers of all kinds of magazines, from TIME to Vanity Fair, Vogue and, most recently, Sports Illustrated.
By KEN WEISS
tBy JAN KNIGHT
New York Times' science section grows smaller while content increases, trend study shows
Although The New York Times' Science Times section grew smaller in 2000, editorial content increased while advertising decreased, according to a random sample analysis spanning 20 years.
SEJ's board, members and staff have raised nearly $40,000 since June toward our $103,000 Endowment Challenge. That's good progress, but there's an even bigger mountain to climb in order to meet the challenge by May 31.
By CHRIS BOWMAN
Daffodils in January. Wildfires in February. Bermuda shorts in March.
Like seemingly everything in the environment these days, this year's SEJ annual conference has been scheduled remarkably earlier than usual: Sept. 5-9 at Stanford University.
The coals fueling your Labor Day barbeque will still be glowing as you pack for the pleasant climes of Stanford, heart of California's Silicon Valley.
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