Written in Stone

Michelle Day, Western Kentucky University

Abstract

John Peter Zenger, Elijah Lovejoy, Gordon Parks, Walter Winchell and Katherine Graham were five famous journalists who impacted the industry in enduring ways. Whether writers, publishers or a photographer, these storytellers have had their stories told countless times over many years. This project seeks to combine journalistic research with a personal experiment in creative writing. Each chapter consists of story about one of the journalists, told either from their own perspective or someone else’s. Each piece should be considered historical fiction — not nonfiction — but the overall message and basic facts are true. Each story is different but reflects an overarching theme — that notable journalism often requires personal sacrifices and can even result in destroying the journalist. Still, it is evident that these five great people dealt with the sacrifice because of passion for their industry.