Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, best-selling author and University of Wisconsin alum David Maraniss will attend the Wisconsin Book Fair this weekend for a reading of his newest book, “Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story.”
Having graduated from UW with a degree in history, Maraniss has used his passion for understanding the past to fuel his writing and his career, establishing a name for himself in the world of journalism.
In his time at UW, Maraniss began covering high school sports and student demonstrations. Though he did show interest in reporting during his time at school, Maraniss studied history.
“I’m fascinated by people — the forces that shape people and why they do what they do,” he said.
After college, Maraniss began writing for The Washington Post, where he covered his first presidential election in 1984, profiling candidate Gary Hart. Maraniss soon became a major political profile writer for the news outlet.
This newly assumed title led Maraniss to cover candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 election, with a series of pieces that won him a Pulitzer Prize.
Given Maraniss’ proven abilities to tell the story of people, in part with his passion for past events based on human affairs, he developed a renowned reputation in writing biographies for major public figures, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Vince Lombardi and Roberto Clemente.
“In each case, I’m interested in the larger sociological forces that shape them,” Maraniss said.
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In order to paint a full picture of those forces, Maraniss embarks on a highly detailed research process, which generally spans over at least a year-and-a-half. He attempts to pull the many puzzle pieces of research together by “looking beyond the conventional story of the person and trying to find the truth.”
Devoting this much effort to a subject, as well as an average of three to three-and-a-half years of his life, Maraniss said he must be “obsessed” with a story to write it.
“Bill Clinton was the first member of my generation to reach the presidency,” he said. “Vince Lombardi conveyed the notion of competition and success in American life. Roberto Clemente was not only my favorite player, but a significant figure beyond sports in terms of representing the Latino presence in the U.S. In some way or another, all of the books that I’ve written connect to things I care about.”
His latest work, “Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story,” is no different, as Maraniss was born in Detroit and lived there early on in his life. More than simply living in the city, Maraniss says a 2011 Superbowl Chrysler car commercial depicting Detroit’s most iconic images reminded him of the city’s booming glory in the shadows of troubles to come.
“I didn’t want to buy a Chrysler, but [the commercial] really got me thinking about Detroit and what it meant to the country,” Maraniss said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc
With a desire to communicate the city’s significance and influence in changing the U.S. for the better, Maraniss lays out four major Detroit-based themes: the automobile industry, Motown music, the labor movement and civil rights.
On the surface, “Once in a Great City” may seem to differ from a number of Maraniss’ previous works in that it breaks from the individual-centric stories for which Maraniss is celebrated. Nonetheless, the subject matter is similar to what he typically writes, as it maintains a sense of biographical history founded in a story of strong personal significance.
Maraniss identifies Detroit as “a major character in this book,” portrayed through the many actors who influenced it, like Henry Ford II and Berry Gordy. The character and actions are his way to tell the story, Maraniss said.
Though Maraniss does not typically center his works on cities, he has emphasized the importance of cities he holds dear in prior writing. His award-winning book “They Marched into Sunlight” discusses war and peace during the Vietnam War and is partially set in Madison.
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“Everything about Madison impacted me in some way or another,” Maraniss said. “The Wisconsin Idea, the progressive nature of the city — all of that shaped who I am and what I care about.”
Maraniss will be reading “Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story” at the Wisconsin Book Fair Oct. 24 at 1:30 p.m.
“I hope you come away appreciating Detroit in a way they hadn’t before,” Maraniss said. “I hope you understand the richness of what it contributed to American life.”
