Thursday, September 2, 2010

An Early Favorite Emerges In The NYTPicker's 2010 Byline Of The Year Competitition: Tudor Van Hampton.

Not since last December's stunning come-from-behind victory for T Magazine writer Jauretsi Saizarbitoria has The NYTPicker seen so formidable a challenger emerge for the title of Byline Of The Year.

Today's "Collectible Cars" column by Chicago freelancer Tudor Van Hampton -- a lovely piece of writing about microcars, horespower and fuel efficiencies -- considerably changes the complexion of this year's competitition.

Van Hampton offers a vivid example of simple, high-toned byline elegance, in the noble tradition of Christopher Lehmann-Haupt and Serge Schmemann.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Van Hampton
is Midwest Bureau Chief, Equipment & Materials Editor and ENR Insider Editor for Engineering News Record in Chicago. His specialties include cars, heavy machinery, trucks, and tools. It's about time the NYT had an expert on tools.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right, there is a certain quality of mischief and of occult priestcraft to the byline.

Anonymous said...

Yes but there will never be another Anemona Hartocollis.

Anonymous said...

Yes.

Of such a starry find, a reader reportedly derives an image that is overly self-referential, positively timeless, and somewhat ornate. This magesterial catch is a most perfect match to his/her latest piece on NYU's curricular revision.

Anonymous said...

When they are born, why are these writers choosing names you don't like? It's crazy!

Anonymous said...

If you think his name is great, you should try his barbeque. Want to know his middle name?

Anonymous said...

There's a glaring error in the new Brooks Barnes piece http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/movies/06box.html

He says that Iron Man 2 was a Disney production and it was in fact a Paramount film. So he makes these two erroneous statements:

"Disney had a similar summer, with mistakes like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “Step Up 3D” dragging down profit from blockbusters like “Toy Story 3” and “Iron Man 2.”

and

"Paramount Pictures was the most successful by volume; for the summer its releases racked up over $770 million at the domestic box office. But the result is misleading because Paramount owned only two of its wide releases, “The Last Airbender” and “Dinner for Schmucks.” The others — “Shrek Forever After,” for instance — were distributed for a fee."

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous @4:08 a.m.,

"Iron Man 2" was produced by Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by Disney. Paramount released the film but only for a small percentage of the total revenue. Barnes should have credited Paramount and there will need to be a correction, but he wasn't completely wrong.

This doesn't alter the fact that he writes like a high school newspaper reporter.

Anonymous said...

Flattery is a charlatan's tool for manipulation. There is no basis to trust this byline anymore than any other one, thought there's no shortage of mythmakers about it.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the point of this post -- are you actually mocking someone's NAME? Grow up, guys.