Practical analysis for investment professionals
20 January 2017

Weekend Reads: The (Non) Inauguration Edition

Posted In: Weekend Reads

Weekend Reads: The (Non) Inauguration Edition

One of the things I love about Twitter is that I often find myself following a thread that leads to long-forgotten stories, tales I would never have found on my own, treatises on topics outside of my usual areas of interest, or articles from the archives. The 1986 piece “Covering the Cops” by Calvin Trillin is one that falls into the last category.

Over the years, I’ve read my share of stories from The New Yorker, but Trillin’s profile of the Pulitzer Prize-winning former crime reporter Edna Buchanan had somehow escaped my notice. The article begins by describing the ongoing debate in the newsroom of the Miami Herald as to “which of Buchanan’s first paragraphs stands as the classic Edna lead.”

Trillin shares that he is among the die-hards in “the fried-chicken faction.” He explains:

“The fried-chicken story was about a rowdy ex-con named Gary Robinson, who late one Sunday night lurched drunkenly into a Church’s outlet, shoved his way to the front of the line, and ordered a three-piece box of fried chicken. Persuaded to wait his turn, he reached the counter again five or ten minutes later, only to be told that Church’s had run out of fried chicken. The young woman at the counter suggested that he might like chicken nuggets instead. Robinson responded to the suggestion by slugging her in the head. That set off a chain of events that ended with Robinson’s being shot dead by a security guard. Edna Buchanan covered the murder for the Herald — there are policemen in Miami who say that it wouldn’t be a murder without her — and her story began with what the fried-chicken faction still regards as the classic Edna lead: ‘Gary Robinson died hungry.’”

Ha! Indeed.

You can’t argue with that.

I’m not sure whether it was the gallows humor that made me chuckle, or the fact that I am suffering from a case of “the morbs” — another Twitter gem — and so am amused by all things droll.

Either way, limiting my intake of political news in the run-up to the United States presidential inauguration in favor of pick-me-up-slash-amusing-and-distracting stories of all genres has been one of my strategies for drowning out much of the rhetoric. The quirkier, the better.

If you are worn out by the political fervor, here are some fun and interesting reads I came across recently:

Run a lot of miles

Some faster than your race pace

Rest once in a while

  • My version of Weekend Reads wouldn’t be complete without at least one reference to photography. As a child of Africa, these stunning images are especially close to my heart:

  • And finally, given these African images, here’s a beautiful rendition of Toto’s “Africa,” performed by Angel City Chorale. Enjoy!

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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Ellica_S

About the Author(s)
Lauren Foster

Lauren Foster was a content director on the professional learning team at CFA Institute and host of the Take 15 Podcast. She is the former managing editor of Enterprising Investor and co-lead of CFA Institute’s Women in Investment Management initiative. Lauren spent nearly a decade on staff at the Financial Times as a reporter and editor based in the New York bureau, followed by freelance writing for Barron’s and the FT. Lauren holds a BA in political science from the University of Cape Town, and an MS in journalism from Columbia University.

1 thought on “Weekend Reads: The (Non) Inauguration Edition”

  1. Rick says:

    Great reading list…thank you for sharing.

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