Pulitzer Prize winner and former Newsweek editor-in-chief Jon Meacham sat down with Tom Ingram in the newest installment of the now that you ask… series to discuss his life so far as a journalist, author and historian.
The crowd Thursday night totaled to be the largest crowd out of all the people that have had a conversation with Ingram.
Meacham told several jokes about why many people would come to hear him, but his real explanation was that people are more interested in his career subject (history) than himself.
“I think we are in a golden age of biography, and I think a lot of people are hungry to see what happened in the past and what solutions that might offer, which is why they are interest in what I do,” Meacham said.
Meacham went on to talk about why he moved to Nashville, “for the grass and dogs.” After living in New York for 20 years, Meacham and his family decided to make the change when his son told him one Friday afternoon that there was nothing to do.
“I’ve spent more time than expected doing the Jackson book here in Nashville,” Meacham said. “We moved a year and half ago and haven’t had a bad day.”
Meacham talked about his family background. He came from three generations of layers and grew up listening to politicians’ stories, which sparked his interest in history.
Meacham has written five books, with his most recent Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power being named a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Meacham’s approach to his books is figuring out how to keep his readers interested throughout the book.
“The competition for your mind share is so ferocious now that to ask people to invest the time and money into a big book of history, I feel I have to keep the reader entertained because they have so many other things they could be doing,” Meacham said.
Meacham thinks of himself as a recovering journalist. His focus now is being a writer and editor. He wouldn’t want to do one without the other and now see editing as an art form.
The audience questions involved mostly details about his books or his personal thought about the lifestyle today. Meacham spoke very openly and said we should pay attention to things that happened today that in 10 years from now people are going to be talking about.
The next person to be apart of the now that you ask… series with Ingram will be former governor Phil Bredesen on March 4.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb University