The Book
“The Fine Print: My Life as a Deskman” is a chronicle of print journalism during its heyday in the second half of the 20th Century. It is a report by a city room veteran who was an eyewitness to the newspaper game as it was practiced in the newsrooms, press rooms and composing rooms of that age. As both an observer and an actor Jack Schwartz had a front-row seat and an on-stage presence at the show as it was performed at The New York Times and its tabloid competitors. This is not the recollection of a celebrity editor nor the memoir of a famous writer. The author was neither. Rather it is an insider’s account that evokes the gritty reality of how news was actually produced by someone intimately involved in the process. “The Fine Print” gives voice to the often anonymous but critical role of the deskmen and women whose labors made the newspaper possible. And, with the fading of print journalism, it offers a wry perspective on a vanishing craft. “The Fine Print” is available at Amazon’s CreateSpace through the following link: The Fine Print: My Life as a Deskman
Jack Schwartz worked for five New York newspapers, the Paris Herald-Tribune and two metropolitan dailies during a career of almost 50 years as an editor and reporter. He has taught at the Columbia School of Journalism and New York University as well as serving as a mentor at the Writers’ Institute of the CUNY Graduate Center. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard and International Affairs Reporting Fellow at Columbia. He lives with his wife, Dr. Nella Shapiro, in Westchester County. This is his first book.
