Daring to be a different kind of writer

Interviewing global newsmakers; posing as a prostitute, getting married (twice), having a child, being divorced, working in field dominated by men and excelling, all are parts of Gail Sheehy’s life.
The groundbreaking writer of 17 books, including her 2014 “Daring: My Passages, A Memoir,” along with many newspaper and magazine articles will speak at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library (HWPL) on June 24 at 2 p.m.
Sheehy, 77, went from writing fluff pieces for the New York Herald Tribune to covering Robert F. Kennedy, and interviewing the presidential hopeful just prior to his assassination in 1968, to authoring “Passages” eight years later, which was named by the Library of Congress as one of the 10 most influential books of our times.
“I would say I was [a trailblazer],” Sheehy said. “I am not really that aware of my overall participation or where I fit in the social history of my times. I am not in a small minority (referring to life events), but I am lucky enough to have a platform to do it and write books.”
Considered part of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and ’70s, when journalists such as Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion and others practiced what was described as more long-form non-fiction, where the writers became immersed in their stories, Sheehy gained fame for a 1971 New York magazine series “Redpants and Sugarman” she wrote about prostitution. Dressed in ‘hooker boots’ and hot pants, and accompanied by an off-duty police officer who posed as her pimp, Sheehy exposed the violence attached to the sex trade.

“It tells you what it is like living that life,” Sheehy said about getting so entwined with the story subjects. “If you take on the coloration of the birds of that flock you hear what’s being said, and get the kind of access you need for your work.”
A native of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, Sheehy graduated from the University of Vermont. She earned a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, and studied under renowned cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead. Sheehy said that work had a substantial influence on the type of journalism she did. “It had a major impact; it taught me to use cross cultural placing,” Sheehy said.
That is using comparison to highlight an issue. Sheehy said that is what she applied when covering Northern Ireland and the division between Catholics and Protestants. She said she would use it to cover what occurred in Ferguson, Mo., and where a mostly black community is policed by a “massively” white police force.
Irene Levy, president of the library’s Friends group, said HWPL is “honored and thrilled” to have Sheehy visit. “She was one of the first women to write, on the ground and in danger’s way, about the conflicts in the world such as Northern Ireland in the ’70s,” Levy said. “Her book ‘Passages’ was an inspiration to women everywhere when it came out, encouraging them to look at their lives differently and see the many possibilities life had to offer women.”
Not a curmudgeon about new media, Sheehy tweets, but is mindful that the same journalistic standards that are applied to so-called “old media” should be adhered to when writing for other social media and Internet news sites.
Audiences that attend Sheehy’s public speaking engagements should be prepared to be inspired to do something daring. “The first thing to be dispelled is you’re never too old to take your first dare,” she said. “My story talks about being young, midlife, being older and coming back from losing a job, a marriage, a spouse and starting over.”
Free tickets are required. Check with HWPL at (516) 374-1967 for availability.