Why I Like Interviewing People

One of the reasons I love interviewing people is that I learn so much from them. For example, last week I talked with a research scientist who specializes in skin care, and her whole spiel was about how much damage the sun does to us and why it’s so important to cover up – skin cancer, wrinkles, etc. etc. It actually made me increase my use of SPF-15. Who knows, maybe that interview even saved my life!

Because I’ve interviewed so many designers over the years (mostly for furniture clients), I’m much more aware of design’s impact on normal everyday items. Like our coffee bean grinder. It is the most poorly designed item in our entire home. Every time I use it, I say, “What the hell was the designer thinking of when he/she did this?” as I watch coffee grounds fly all over the kitchen counter.

But I think the interviews that have moved me the most are the ones I’ve done for Goodwill Industries of Grand Rapids. I wrote their newsletter for five years, and in that time, I met with deaf and blind people (or, the seeing and hearing challenged), former convicts and drug addicts, people with mental illnesses, poor people, a guy with autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, and on and on.

It was all fascinating because in almost every case, it opened a door to a life I knew nothing about. It made me appreciate what I have and where I come from, and to admire all the people out there who are trying so hard to better themselves in this cold, cruel world – not to mention the folks at Goodwill who are dedicated to helping them do it.

One of the most interesting people I ever interviewed for Goodwill was a guy named Ivan Jenson. Ivan’s story was amazing. In fact, here was my opening paragraph:

“Ivan Jenson created his first award-winning sculpture at age 9, wrote a novel at 14, started a band at 16, drew caricatures of Malcomb Forbes’ friends aboard the billionaire’s yacht in the ‘80s, rubbed shoulders with Andy Warhol, and contributed an “Absolut Jenson” painting for the internationally known Absolut Vodka ad campaign.…”

I believe Ivan himself was an Absolut genius. (Check out his website at http://www.ivanjenson.com/ for more.) I remember being so frustrated at the time because I couldn’t tell his whole story; I only had so much space in the newsletter, and it had to focus on how Goodwill helped him. My biggest question was how the hell did this guy who grew up in California and worked as an artist in NYC for 20 years, ever end up at Goodwill in the first place??

The short-short story is that his sister, herself a former child prodigy violinist (the family was full of geniuses!) married the head of the G. R. Symphony, and Ivan’s mother had moved here to be with her. Ivan had a bit of a soul-searching meltdown in NYC, and came to his mom’s to get back on track. As he humbly said about going to Goodwill, “I was in the same boat as a lot people who come to Goodwill; I hand never had a ‘real’ job in my life.”

Anyway, Goodwill did help him get back in a good groove, and the last I heard he was talking with a new agent in Florida, so I think all turned out well with Ivan…

I guess the point of this is that interviewing people has become one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Writers, I think, by and large, are curious people. And this definitely satisfies some inner need I have to learn about stuff. It keeps life interesting, and, perhaps best of all, gives me lots of things to talk about over a glasso’ wine with my friends.