Joe Drape

I was pleased when I could put a face and voice to the name, Joe Drape. Although I had viewed Jim Kobe's piece on Drape and saw the picture on the back of the book, it was nice to hear from the author in person.
I felt like Drape really appreciated his experience. Judging from his past assignments for the Times, I think Drape began "Our Boys" as another assignment and in the end came out with a different view on life.
He talked about life in New York, the hustle and bustle. He explained how there are possibly more people on his block in New York than there are in the entire town of Smith Center. I got the feeling that his trip to Smith Center was a relief from all of that. I got the feeling that Drape is a family man and through writing this book and being involved in a community like Smith Center added to his values and beliefs.
Drape explained how one of the parents in the book felt like her family's life was exposed. He said he understood, and I think he did. He talked about his family openly and their gains and struggles as Drape wrote "Our Boys" and I thought that was pretty cool.
You could tell Drape loves his job and the job fits him well. He was every bit the people person, and he seemed to believe that everyone truly has a story to tell. He wanted to know who we were, what we do, what we're interested in. He really took his time with our class and I feel like he tried to soak in the experience as much as he could.
I guess if you have a job that exposes you to many cultures and major events, it could be easy to lose interest in the small things. Or, like Drape, you can experience everything with the intent that you might just learn something new.