I Want to be Like Harper

One of the reporters I work with has the gift to make people at ease regardless of the circumstance. He writes great stories that are often picked up by the Associated Press and appeal to people all over the world. He is the kind of person who people open up to. He is getting older and has hearing aids and doesn't see too well, but these things don't ever deter him.

Today he was out on a story about a boy who has Down Syndrome who for the past couple of years had been begging his father to let him play football. The father, of course, has explained to his son several times that it just wasn't possible, but the young man persisted, even writing a letter this year to the coach. To the boy's delight, the coach has given him a locker and made him a team manager who travels to every game.

Anyway, after interviewing the coach today Harper asked to speak with the boy and the coach discouraged it because the boy is shy and doesn't like to talk much. Harper persisted. He told me that he asked the coach to just have the boy approach him. When the boy got close, Harper said he greeted him with a high-five and the biggest smile he could muster. His warmth and good heart was immediately recognized by the boy, and I am told they had a nice interview that will end up adding an element to the story that most reporters would have missed.

Harper left with the coach shaking his head and saying something like, "I never would have guessed it."

I, unlike the coach, am not surprised. It is what I, as an editor, count on every day. It is what makes him good at his job. Come this weekend thousands of people will wake up, read that story and want to be better people. To me, that's the measure of a good writer.