OF A GOLDEN AGE

anna quindlen used to be a reporter and then a columnist for the new york times. now she does a fortnightly column for newsweek, alternating with george will.

in one essay, “the great obligation,” quindlen writes about a family whose son was kidnapped. she covered it at the time, and twenty-five years later, he’s never been found. she called to talk with the father in 2004.

He didn’t remember the story I had done; I’ve never forgotten it. The couple’s loss, their need, their grief, made me feel that I had to lift the level of my game to meet the level of their bereavement.

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