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New York Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Geena Davis Can't Count How Many Times She's Reread Zola
In an email interview, she talked about the inspiration behind 'The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page,' and how 'The Accidental Tourist' changed her life. SCOTT HELLER What's the last great book you read? 'Horse,' by Geraldine Brooks, weaves the art world, the horse racing world and what it means to be human into a thrilling tapestry. What book have you recommended the most over the years? 'Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,' by Susan Faludi. As someone who's focused on creating equitable representation onscreen for women and girls, this book had a strong impact on me. Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? Memoirs and biographies. I find stories about other people's real-life experiences and challenges so engrossing. They teach me a lot and broaden my perspective and understanding of the world. One recent favorite was 'Educated,' by Tara Westover. The story — and Tara's resilience — broke my heart. What kind of reader were you as a child? I read everything I could get my hands on, often under the covers with a flashlight. I used novels as a way to learn, to escape and to travel without leaving my little town in Massachusetts. I particularly loved 'The Cricket in Times Square,' by George Selden. The idea of a cricket giving concerts in New York City enchanted me. Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain? My favorite book of all time is 'L'Assommoir,' by Émile Zola, and I adore Gervaise Macquart. She's such a strong character, and every time I read the book, I want her life to be different — I want her to have all the opportunities she's denied as a member of the Parisian underclass. And as far as antiheroes, while I wouldn't say her husband is my favorite antihero, I would say that he's the perfect foil for Gervaise's dreams. Zola is such a stunning writer. I can't tell you how many times I've read and reread his work. Do you have a favorite memoir by an actor? I don't, but I do have a favorite biography — 'Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor,' by Simon Callow. Charles Laughton is my absolute favorite actor. He was one of the true greats, and being able to gain insight into his life through this book meant a lot to me. What was the specific motivation to try your hand at a children's book? I've always loved drawing and writing, so it's been in my mind for a long time. Then, suddenly, the idea of a character knowing that they live in a book came to me. As a child, I always felt too tall, like I was taking up more than my share of space, and I tried to shrink myself to fit into the amount of space I imagined I should occupy. In writing 'The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page,' I wanted to reach out to kids who feel like I did back then — like they don't fit in — and reassure them that there is room for them in the world. I want them to realize that they should take up as much space as they need. Often new authors work with illustrators. Was it a must that you did the art for this book, too? I've always drawn and painted, and I saw my characters so clearly in my mind's eye that it seemed natural that I would draw them. And luckily for me, my publisher loved what I created. What's the best book you've ever received as a gift? When Hugh Laurie and I played Stuart Little's parents in the movie 'Stuart Little,' Hugh decided to give me a copy of his hilarious book, 'The Gun Seller.' But since he knew I was once a foreign-exchange student in Sweden, Hugh gave me a Swedish copy! (The book was called 'Skottpengar' there.) The gift truly delighted me. I love Hugh's writing in any language. Of all the characters you've played across different media, which role felt to you the richest — the most novelistic? I've actually been in five movies based on books, but Muriel Pritchett from 'The Accidental Tourist' was definitely the most novelistic. Muriel, who first appeared in the beautiful book by Anne Tyler, is complicated and unique and felt so three-dimensional on the page. I remember reading this book aloud to Jeff Goldblum while we were shooting 'The Fly' together and he was getting his extensive makeup done. As I read, I started hating whoever was going to get to play the part of Muriel in the movie version — which it was clear there would be. But then it was me! And it completely changed my life.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Jeffrey Bruce Klein, a founder and editor of Mother Jones, dies at 77
Mr. Klein was an East Coast transplant to the San Francisco Bay Area, drawn in the midst of 1960s counterculture by the possibility that the era's antiestablishment character could continue to drive the region's lively left-wing journalism. In 1974, he joined Adam Hochschild, Paul Jacobs, and Richard Parker, all editors at the progressive magazine Ramparts, to plan a publication that would expand the left's focus on government malfeasance to include corporate muckraking and the role of money in politics. Advertisement They called it Mother Jones, in honor of the fiery labor leader Mary Harris Jones. Working from a cramped office above a McDonald's in San Francisco, they produced their first issue in 1976. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Mr. Klein was officially the magazine's literary editor, though in practice he commissioned writers of all kinds. "He energetically barraged every writer he could think of with phone calls and letters," Hochschild said in an interview. Among his first finds was a short memoir by Chinese writer Li-Li Ch'en, which ran in the inaugural issue and won a National Magazine Award in 1977. Mr. Klein also contributed features of his own, including one on the complicated relationship between basketball player Bill Walton and Portland, Ore., where he played professionally for the Trail Blazers. Another article showed that Richard V. Allen, Ronald Reagan's first national security adviser, had failed to disclose connections to fugitive financier Robert Vesco — a revelation that contributed to Allen's resignation in 1982. In 1981, Mr. Klein left to become the editor-in-chief of San Francisco magazine. A few years later, he founded West, the Sunday magazine of The San Jose Mercury News, where he cultivated an army of young journalists. 'He had this unlimited enthusiasm about whatever we wanted to work on,' one of those journalists, Susan Faludi, said in an interview. She added that he commissioned her to write stories that became the basis of her first book, 'Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women' (1991). Advertisement By the early 1990s, Mother Jones was sagging, having fallen, in the eyes of many readers, into the rut of predictably left-leaning diatribes. It had once had as many as 238,000 subscriptions; that number had dropped by half. Mr. Klein returned to the magazine in 1992, this time as its editor-in-chief. He brought a tech-savvy sensibility to its investigative coverage, with features on Silicon Valley and the 1990s internet boom. In 1998, he began a $3.5 million market-research campaign and a complete redesign. Subscriptions rebounded by 25 percent over the five years after he arrived. Mother Jones was the first general-interest magazine to have a substantial website. In 1994, Mr. Klein published an online database of corporate political donors, cross-referenced with their recipients. His criticism was bipartisan: Although he took glee in going after Newt Gingrich, the Republican speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, he was almost as savage in his attacks on Bill Clinton, whom he described as a "stunningly disappointing president." With an eye toward attracting new readers, Mr. Klein also ran articles that pushed against liberal orthodoxies, like one that was critical of affirmative action, and on matters outside the magazine's core interests, like spirituality. Such articles caused a rift between Mr. Klein and several members of the Mother Jones board, who wanted to hew closer to the progressive line. He resigned in 1998. Jeffrey Bruce Klein was born Jan. 15, 1948, in Scranton, Pa. His father, Harold, was a doctor, and his mother, Helen (Blum) Klein, managed the home. Advertisement He studied psychology at Columbia University and graduated in 1969; despite his left-wing politics, he did not participate in the protests that rocked the school while he was there. He did, however, study under famed literary scholar Lionel Trilling, an experience he later cited as critical to his decision to become a writer. After graduating, like countless idealistic young people at the time, he packed up his Volkswagen Beetle and drove to California. He would live there for the rest of his life. He studied education at Stanford University, where he met Judith Weinstein. They married in 1971. She died in 1996. A second marriage, to Judi Cohen, ended in divorce. He married Claudia Brooks in 2020. Along with his sons, both from his first marriage, she survives him, as do four grandchildren; his sister, Carol White; and his brother, Ken. After leaving Mother Jones in 1998, Mr. Klein taught journalism at Stanford and worked as a producer for 'PBS NewsHour' with Jim Lehrer. One of his 'NewsHour' programs, on the Chinese economy, won a Gerald Loeb Award in 2006. In between editing investigative journalism, he wrote a science fiction thriller, 'The Black Hole Affair' (1991). And while his pragmatism irked some of his friends on the left, he saw politics differently. "There is obviously a left and right dimension, but I think the more critical dimension is outsider and insider," he told The New York Times in 1993. "I think that is where the real political battles are." This article originally appeared in
