My inaugural Underwire post, and feels a bit inappropriate to drop a mere 150 words to remember David Halberstam, perhaps the country's leading long-form journalist of the past 40 years. Halberstam, who died yesterday, was celebrated as a diligent reporter who remained fearless in the face of authority. But, behind the thick lenses, Halberstam also proved to be an eagle-eyed trend-watcher – his The Powers That Be uncovered the closeted history of American media moguls more vividly than any work save – maybe – Citizen Kane. And The Reckoning provided an entertaining, comprehensive account of the spectacular, should-have-been-avoided train-wreck of Detroit's calcifying auto industry.
Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer for his Vietnam reportage, could also be remembered as the anti-blogger, putting out one painstakingly researched book every two years or so, with the average length north of 400 pages. No Digg-trolling for this reporter – he did his legwork. You can read his New York Times reportage here.
