Hallman spent hundreds of hours and more than 10 months reporting for this series. He says he did very little reconstruction, that most of the scenes are based on his observation. We admire much of the writing, which exudes compassion, a kind of gentleness, while remaining detached. Notice the intimacy and quietness of the lead, which sets the tone: the attention to gesture, to the quality of the light in the room; the small, close details of cat, vegetables and card game. Notice the ways in which Hallman evokes our concern for his subject before telling us exactly why we should care.
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“Why’s this so good?” No. 30: Sally Jenkins picks Kwame Brown
Meg Greenwell on seeing what others have missed.
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“Why’s this so good?” No. 29: Andrea Curtis and the rhythm of mercy
Bruce Gillespie on well-paced narrative.
Tom Hallman, Jr., is a senior reporter specializing in features at The Oregonian. He joined the paper in 1980 and covered the police beat for a decade, longer than any reporter since the 1950s. While covering cops, Hallman began writing feature stories—at first off the beat, then the stories of everyday people. He won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for "The Boy Behind the Mask," and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in beat reporting in 1995 and in feature writing in 1999. He has won the Ernie Pyle Award for human-interest writing, the ASNE Distinguished Writing Award for nondeadline writing (twice), the feature-writing award from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.