Dan Barry has long been one of our favorite journalists. He writes the column This Land for The New York Times. His work delves into the corners of America, examining the stories that move us apart and bring us together. He is the recipient of numerous awards for journalistic excellence, as well as the author of Pull Me Up: A Memoir, and City Lights: Stories About New York. Recently he took time from his busy schedule to answer our questions. We thank him for this.
Dark Sky Magazine: You’ve been writing This Land since 2007. How has the experience treated you?
Dan Barry: The flip answer would be that I have enough small bottles of motel shampoo to lather the borough of Brooklyn. But the truth is that the job, while taxing at times, has been a dream. Any complaints about eating too often at Subways, or waiting on the tarmacs of America, are more than offset by the privilege of wandering around this country, exploring, nosing around, trying to figure it all out. Entirely paid for, by the way, by The New York Times. In journalism, it really doesn’t get much better than this.
So, in short, the experience has treated me quite well, thank you.
