Lisa DePaulo made a name for herself as a feature writer for Philadelphia magazine and in the ’90s I lured her to the Washingtonian with the promise of more money and even better targets. She did great pieces—my favorite was a profile, “He Came From the Swamp,” of James Carville, the genius who got Bill Clinton elected president. She also caused a stir with a “Dates From Hell” cover story about how boring she found Washington men and she soon left for New York, where she’s done great work for GQ, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and the late George.
Last fall the Washington Post ran a piece, “Why is Trump so awkward in Washington? He’s a New Yorker.” It was by Henry Allen, a long-retired Style section writer, and it was a good piece but I kept thinking Lisa could do it with more bite.
So I sent her a link to the Post piece and a suggestion, “You could do this better. A great subject.”
Her response: “I disagree with the basic premise of this. New Yorkers never considered Trump a New Yorker. He was a slumlord from Queens.”
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Also see an earlier About Editing and Writing post, “Writing Great Profiles: How Lisa DePaulo Does It.”
And a piece about dating in Washington, “Okay, We’re Hopeless. See You Saturday?” that Jake Tapper wrote for the Washington Post in 1999; it’s a good read with more Lisa quotes about Washington men.
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