Of everything you've written, what's gotten the best response?

Rather than having parents screaming obscenities at you on the phone because you forgot little Johnny Bedwetter's one-yard touchdown in a 86-6 loss, what are the stories/columns, etc. that have gotten you the best responses?

I wrote a column in my college newspaper called "Many different shades of gay" in which I included the line, "just because I would rather watch Monday Night Football than go to an art show doesn't make me any less gay." Three different people wrote me about it, all positive. I still have a printout of one e-mail from a guy who happened to pick it up when he was on fall break from his out-of-state university. He told me he clipped that column out and sent it to a friend in Florida.

 

Column I wrote (hastily) the day Tony Dungy's son died.

It apparently touched a nerve -- in a good way -- with a lot of people in the community.

 

I once wrote a gripping story about a former DJ who had lung cancer. He put off his surgery for the holidays and - bam - the good old insurance company stopped covering those types of surgeries after the new year.

The people raising money for him came up with the $200,000 within days of my story.

 

Handful of things, but a few years ago in N.H. wrote a story about a painted-windows auction with money going toward maintaining a park built in the memory of a boy killed by a car. Basically, a bunch of artists took a window (from a local church that renovated with new windows) and painted them. One of the artists was a local boys soccer coach, whose painting hooked me; couldn't stop staring at it. The story I wrote was led and ended by his piece, and the ending, he told me, made his mom cry.

 

"You cost (name of child) a college scholarship, you heartless bastard."

Etc...

 

I wrote a column one time on a older gentleman who had gotten to take part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience as a gift from his wife.

Few months later, I see his obituary in the paper. He had passed away from some illness, I can't remember. A few days later, his wife came in to tell me how much her husband had appreciated that column and how much it would always mean to her.

 

I said Craig Biggio wasn't a Hall of Famer.

Got a lot of response on that one.

 

"Youth and ignorance is alive and well, writing sports columns for the Daily Bugle."

I e-mailed the guy and told him it was a fantastic way to lead a letter to the editor. He was shocked that I would send him a nice note after he spent 500 words ripping me to shreds.

 

I wrote a column for my college paper, listing the rules of being a fan. It was meant to be satirical but basically touched on how everyone needs to stick together through the good times and the bad.

I had alumni from all corners of the country e-mailing me to tell me how I hit it right on the head.

 

I wrote a review of the bathrooms on campus for the school newspaper. It came out on a Friday. I didn't have to pay for a drink all weekend.

 

Things I've done on people who died -- two on athletes, one on a coach's wife. I didn't think of the stories that way when I was writing them, that this sucker is going to get a big response, etc., I thought of them as something that might give some small solace to the surviving relatives.

 

I still remember this one student columnist at The Diamondback wrote this awful piece of shit column. I wrote her back telling her what I thought was wrong with the column.

She responded with "Thank you" in the subject line and she told me she appreciated my feedback, even though it was negative. She also told me I was right.

I was floored.