The Geographer's Library

Jon Fasman
that’s better. Here’s the score: Art speaks well of you, and I think well of him.
He thinks that you think you’re onto something, and you think you’re onto
something, and if you are, he’s right that it’s not for the Carrier. If it pans
out, then give me a call again and we can talk about it. Meantime, whether it
pans out or not, we occasionally run local-interest pieces from all over New
England. You see something that’s worth some ink, you give a shout here,
too. Now, before I hang up, hand the phone back to Art, would you, please?
Good luck, and keep in touch.”
I handed Art the telephone, and he said his good-byes, made courteous
unfulfillable nonplan plans to see Leenie, and hung up. “She say she’d make
room for you?”
I nodded. “If there’s something there. She also said something about
local-interest pieces from out here?”
“Yep. You should do those. Their current correspondent out this way’s
notoriously lazy and unreliable.”
“Who’s that?”
“Me,” he said with a bashful grin. “I do maybe one story every few
months, but, really, you could do one a month, easy. Pay’s decent, the stories
aren’t too tough, and it’s a good clip and a great foot in the door if you want
to go to Boston. And believe me, you do. Maybe she’d give you something
that would let you skip a step, you know, so you wouldn’t have to go from
here to—I don’t know—New Haven or Springfield or someplace like that.
Meanwhile, you need to keep digging.” He lowered his head and pointed at
the phone. “You going to call the music teacher?”
The same way runners get sponsored by sneaker companies, reporters
should get sponsored by phone manufacturers: nobody except telemarketers
rides them like we do. I dialed the school number, and a pinched grammarian’s
voice answered the phone. “Talcott Academy, this is Mrs. Turley. How
can I help you?”
“I’d like to speak to Hannah Rowe, please.”
“Miss Rowe is out sick today. Can I leave a message for her?”
“Actually, it’s important that I speak with her. Do you have a number
where I can reach her?”
“Whom am I speaking to, please?”
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