Famed journalist Gay Talese couldn’t name a single female non-fiction writer he admires over the weekend, but that didn’t stop The New Yorker from publishing his latest piece.
The “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” writer was taking questions from the audience after delivering a keynote at a journalism conference Saturday at Boston University when he had a hard time naming a female writer he cared for, according to the New York Post.
Talese said he “didn’t know any women writers that I loved” and “educated women” tend to be uncomfortable speaking with “anti-social” or “uneducated” characters. The social media backlash was immediate and many people headed for the exits after Talese’s remarks.