On a close-by facet desk was a framed {photograph} of Mr. Levine with Elaine Kaufmannwho died in 2010. Mrs. Kaufman’s Restaurant, Elaineit was just some blocks from Levine’s Higher East Facet residence, and he was a daily there, together with media luminaries like David Halberstam, Pete Hamill, Homosexual Talese, and Tom Wolfe.
In Levine’s room, the partitions had been lined with framed articles about him and The Enquirer — lots of them shiny — from main information shops, together with New York, Speak and The New York Occasions.
“Two in a single yr,” he stated.
A number of occasions throughout our 90-minute dialog, he talked about that The Enquirer’s articles about Mr. Edwards had earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination. And, in case I missed it, there was a framed drawing on yellow cardboard made by his daughter that stated in large black letters: “Pulitzer Prize Finalist.”
By no means thoughts that Levine was exaggerating the reality, which was that the Pulitzer board had decided in 2010 that The Enquirer was solely eligible to submit its articles for consideration. The publication acquired no nominations in the long run.
Oh effectively. Who can blame a tabloid journalist for a little bit embellishment?
Levine, who grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania, grew to become enamored with journalism as a toddler, trying on the well-known faces — Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon — on the covers of magazines unfold throughout his dad and mom’ cafe. desk.
At Temple College, he edited the coed newspaper, The Temple Information, and imitated guys like robust columnist Jimmy Breslin, smoking cigars and sneaking into bars whereas nonetheless underage to drink. He figured if he was courageous sufficient to go in, the bartenders would serve him.
