The Matchless Mitchell

Although it has nothing to do with crime and mystery fiction, I want to draw your attention to a quite wonderful, two-part feature in January Magazine about the longtime New Yorker magazine writer and author Joseph Mitchell (1908-1996). It commemorates 20 years since his omnibus work, Up in the Old Hotel, was first released.

The piece was put together by Matthew Fleagle. Now a technical writer for a small software company in Seattle, Washington, Fleagle began his career with an interest in journalism. I hired him on as an intern at the old Washington Magazine, and then watched his talents grow as he took on assignments for Eastsideweek, Northwest Health, and assorted other local periodicals. He’s been away from journalism for some while--he says that the Mitchell feature is “the first article I’ve written specifically for publication in a dozen years.”--but his writing and reporting skills seem not to have suffered tremendously as a result. I’m proud to have done what I could to encourage him to compose this piece about Mitchell and help get it posted. I hope to encourage more of his contributions to January in the future.

Anyway, check out both installments of Fleagle’s piece. Part I is located here, while Part II can be found here.