Today, tucked away in the New York Times was a short piece printed from their City Room blog by 77-year-old literary lion Gay Talese chronicling his recent efforts to help New York’s panhandlers improve their signage.

“As I strolled past Bernard L. Madoff’s apartment house in the East 60s the other day on my way to cash a check at my neighborhood bank on Madison Avenue and 63rd Street, I was greeted by a middle-aged panhandler who sat on the sidewalk leaning against the bank’s brick wall waving a plastic cup in my direction”

As you might imagine, there are some lively comments both championing and jeering the notion of Mr. Talese in all his sartorial splendor handing out dollar bills along with eye-popping copy written on the backs of “laundry board that the dry cleaner sends home with my shirts” to the city’s homeless population.

(Full disclosure: Gay Talese is one my literary heroes and of all the wonderful writers who’ve crossed my path, meeting Mr. Talese remains one of my fondest memories. And when he stopped by our offices to talk about A Writer’s Life, he did indeed pull out strips of those famous laundry boards to write down our names and take random notes.)

Some observations of “Talese-isms” from his City Room piece that I’m still mulling over:

• In our ATM culture, I can’t recall the last time I conducted bank business with an actual bank teller but naturally Mr. Talese still cashes checks in person.
• A double mention of his famous strips of laundry board that he uses to take notes!
• A reference to a computer (and a printer). For a man taking notes on laundry boards, I assumed he would be using a typewriter or Dictaphone.
• “I took down the names and phone numbers of many of my street clients.” Who knew so many panhandlers have phone numbers?

Tags: gay talese, grammar, office humor, panhandlers, talese, writing