Don’t ask about the white birds
Love this story about Ernest Hemingway being interviewed by George Plimpton, as told by Philip Gourevitch, the current editor of the Paris Review, who was interviewed on Powells.com by Dave Weich.
Gourevitch: A few days ago I was in L.A., and I was talking about the book [The Paris Review Interviews, Vol I] with Stephen Gaghan, the guy who wrote Traffic and wrote and directed Syriana. A long time ago, Stephen was a Paris Review intern.
He remembered being with George Plimpton once, and he asked about the Hemingway interview. George had this kind of patrician accent. He told Stephen, “I remember one morning when we were down in Cuba, we were going out tarpon fishing. We went down to the pier in the morning, and he was putting all the gear in the boat to go out for the day. I was coming down the pier, and I said, ‘Papa! I’ve been wanting to ask you about the white birds.’”
Hemingway turned around and said, “What’s that?” So Plimpton explained, “The white birds. You know? In your stories, at a significant moment, the white birds appear.”
Hemingway took two steps toward him and clocked him. He knocked him out cold.
Dave: Wow. Great story.
Gourevitch: I like it because it reminds you what a dangerous business literary interviewing is.
Posted: February 1st, 2007 under Arts Beat, Asking Questions, George Plimpton, History of Print Interviews, Interviewer Experiences.