Romona’s Law
Sean Gardiner’s article about the abduction, rape, mutilation and murder of Romona Moore is written unemotionally, in pared back language. The article chronologues the dreadful events and appalling lack of priority given to the investigation by the NYPD.
The chronology is easy to read and draws the reader in, even though it does jump backwards and forwards. The tone of the writing reflects the sombre subject matter. The facts of what occurred are conveyed in a straight forward manner, forthright with no embellishment. It’s perhaps the only tasteful and respectful manner in which such horrendous truths can be told. The reader comprehends the full force of the story by letting the stark facts resonate, interpreting what isn’t said.
Gardiner’s placement of the last two paragraphs serve to end the piece in a profoundly telling post script. The proposed ‘Romona’s Law’ hadn’t been discussed – much less passed – before city council in over four years; and Det Wayne Carey had found himself promoted for helping to solve Romona’s murder. The words helping to solve were not italicised or contained within quotation marks for effect. Gardiner gives it to us straight, and it hits between the eyes.
Pearls Before Breakfast – or the Flop of L’Enfant Plaza
Gene Weingarten’s Pullitzer Prize winning article is a cracking story and a brilliant idea. The stunt, organised by the Washington Post, places world-renowned classical violinist, Joshua Bell, at a busy subway arcade in morning rush hour. Dressed in jeans, t-shirt and baseball cap, he plays some of the most elegant music ever written, on an 18th century Stradivari violin worth more than $3.5 million. Would people stop? Would they recognise the beauty in what they were hearing? The value? Tickets for Bell’s concerts went for $100 (just the ‘pretty good’ seats, presumably much more for dress circle). Would daily commuters stop to listen, give money, or ignore it completely and hurry on by?
I loved the playfulness of this story, and the spotlight on the human psyche. Its structure worked well, teasing out the story in stacatto grabs, holding back some of the results to keep reader interest.
Some of the quotes from people in the arcade are priceless, and serve to summarise the story succinctly. Edna Souza, the shoe shine lady, doesn’t care for street musicians and normally rings the police (she has them on speed dial). Of Bell’s performance, she says it was too loud, but: “He was pretty good that guy. It was the first time I didn’t call the police.”
The story reminds me of another stunt, performed by our own Barry Humphries when he and a group of mates were still students at Melbourne University. He boarded a train (one of the old red rattlers) out in the suburbs one morning rush hour, and at every stop towards the city someone would open the train door and pass him in an item. It began with the morning paper at the first stop, then a glass of orange juice at the next stop, followed by a plate of scrambled eggs, some bacon plonked on top, toast, jam and a steaming cup of tea, all by the time he arrived at Flinders Street station. The purpose of the exercise was to see if (a) anyone noticed; and (b) if they laughed or indicated in any way whether or not they noticed the strange breakfast servery. Overwhelmingly, people in the carriage ignored the antics, holding up newspapers and looking the other way.
Weingarten’s feature is the stuff that creates great grass roots awareness and urban legend from the positive word-of-mouth it stimulates.
We Still have Not Not Lived Long Enough
Judge Leonard Stretton’s invective following the royal commission into the 1939 ‘Black Friday’ fires may well have been said in the aftermath of Victoria’s latest fire tragedy.
So Professor Tom Griffiths explains in his article, a somewhat laborious read given some of the heavy scientific and meteorological content, but it nevertheless strikes true in its depiction of the terror and hopelessness of the Black Saturday inferno. The story skips through different aspects of the fires but I wasn’t sure of the connective theme. The naivete of the early European settlers who knew little of the bush, the eucalyptus trees which have evolved requiring massive wildfire in order to propagate, the fire plume conditions peculiar to Victoria. Griffiths also discusses fire plans, the need for bunkers, and predicts ways in which we will fight fire in the future. He leaves us pondering the sinister threat of cultural loss through the cyclic nature of fire, and a failure by communities to learn from history, in order to preserve our living history.
I found the style of the article disjointed and confusing. I re-read it to bolster my comprehension of it. I think it has some interesting things to say, but don’t think this framework is an effective one.
