Gay Talese

Graduating from the University of Alabama in 1953, Gay Talese moved to New York City to become a journalist; he was hired as a copy boy at the New York Times. Considered one of the foremost practitioners of New Journalism, Talese published his influential profile “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” in Esquire in 1966. “I suggest there is art in journalism,” Talese once said. “I don’t want to resort to changing names, to fictionalizing. The reality is more fascinating.” He is the author of several books, including The Kingdom and the Power and Thy Neighbor’s Wife.