looking for some perfect examples to show my journalism students

I'm with Moddy -- great stories are being mentioned but the point may be missed.

Here's a few more straight-forward sports feature stories to consider:

- The Washington Post's Mike Wise on Washington Capitals goon Donald Brashear http://wapo.st/11DIzL
- The New York Times' Campbell Robertson on New Orleans during and after the Super Bowl http://nyti.ms/d1L3YE
- The Boston Globe's Jackie MacMullan on Boston Celtics star Ray Allen http://bit.ly/awz2MJ

They're great stories without many of the frills you'll find in magazine pieces. Perfect examples of how to draw out a great feature story without overwriting.

 

I think students need to see every day stories and not athletes/celebrities. While I am not doubting the talent of the writers, a lot of those stories couldn't have been done without access. Even if you have talent of say a Mike Wise or Jackie Macmullen, I am not sure you could pull of those stories without the access and contacts.

Access is nebulous. You work the contacts, build trust etc. The truth is some great talents never ever manage to get that access. That exclusivity of access make it difficult for me to have students (whom 99 percent won't have that access) learn from.

I would say more instructive is a great story about an every day person. No stunts, no access or celebrity profiles and nothing where you are invited into the "inner circle."

You guys know what I mean?

Here's a personal favorite. I read it in Journalism school and I am sure most know of this story. I think it's phenomenal. Mrs. Kelly's Monster. Incredible. The final line is haunting.


http://www.jonfranklin.com/Stories/Mrs_Kellys_Monster.html

 

It's a difficult juggle between inspiration and "a story I could do."

I think the point, in the beginning, should be to teach them about the value of storytelling. No matter how you do it.

 

Also mention that life sucks and you'll never get what you want and probably die a tragic death in your mid-20s wearing dirty underwear.

 

I think they'd be better off reading "a story that maybe I could write one day."

 

Jon Franklin's book on feature writing is awesome.

Jeff, you might want to think about using it as a textbook for your class.

The crazy part about this story is that the Sun ran it on like the B-section cover, below the fold. I think newspapers just didn't know what to do with "soft" news/features at that time.

I believe this was the first ever Pulitzer Prize feature winner.

 

I have a book that my magazine article professor compiled for me in college (I was the only sports guy in the class). Lots of old stuff but good stuff, by Roger Angel, Heywood Broun (I think I spelled both of those names wrong). I'm going to try and find it and list the titles here.