Calvin Trillin
Calvin Trillin, a staff writer, has contributed to The New Yorker since 1963. His many books include “ Jackson, 1964 ” and “ About Alice.”
Read more on The New Yorker →39 picks · 1963–2015
Featured Picks
u.s. journal ·
A culinary festival in a world capital.
our local correspondents ·
Calvin Trillin on the closure of the family-owned mozzarella shop Joe’s Dairy, in the South Village, and the treasure of ten-stop shopping—“not just for the quality of the goods but for the companionship and the ritual.”
profiles ·
Calvin Trillin on the triumphs, travels, and movable feasts of the New York Times’ R. W. Apple, Jr.
annals of gastronomy ·
Grandfather knows best.
a reporter at large ·
A REPORTER AT LARGE about Mississippi's racial policies in the '60s, and about the state's Sovereignty Commission. Of the hundreds of white …
shouts & murmurs ·
Shouts & Murmurs by Calvin Trillin: Because of a computer error, the early editions on Wednesday misidentified the person arrested for a series of armed robberies of kitchen-supply stores on the West Side of Manhattan.
profiles ·
Calvin Trillin on the illusionists Penn & Teller. “Penn & Teller had a relationship with the audience that was less characteristic of magicians than of street performers—which they both once were.”
profiles ·
Calvin Trillin on how Edna Buchanan, Miami’s top crime reporter, gets the story.
onward and upward with the arts ·
Calvin Trillin’s 1985 report on the Memphis in May International Barbecue Cooking Contest, the country’s preëminent barbecuing competition.
profiles ·
PROFILE of several of Houston's immigration lawyers.
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about Harvard Law School. There is a deep, and at times bitter, division in the faculty-a division that began with a challenge from the …
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about writer's visit last fall to Kansas City, his home town, to see the American Royal livestock show. A Grand Champion steer is …
u.s. journal ·
U.S. JOURNAL: BUFFALO, N.Y., about the custom, unique to Buffalo, of treating the chicken wing as a culinary specialty. The writer intended a short history…
fiction ·
This Week's Question: Is There A Danger In So Many Foreign Investors Buying Up Businesses and Property In America? Illustrated story. The above …
u.s. journal ·
Calvin Trillin on the origins of the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, and why the New York neighborhood is particularly suited—in spirit and architecture—to celebrating the holiday.
u.s. journal ·
U.S. JOURNAL: KENTUCKY about barbecued mutton, a unique regional specialty of western Kentucky. With Tom Chaney, a Kentuckian, the writer resolves to seek …
u.s. journal: miami beach ·
U. S. JOURNAL: MIAMI BEACH about Harvey St. Jean, the top criminal lawyer in Miami Beach, who was shot to death in his car on Dec. 11, 1974. Tells about …
u.s. journal ·
New Glarus, Wis. emphasizes its Swiss heritage in order to draw tourists. The promotion that helped increase the tourist traffic mostly dramatically in the…
u.s. journal ·
Calvin Trillin’s Sunday-morning visits to Russ & Daughters, Tanenbaum’s, and Ben’s Dairy, on the Lower East Side, to buy breakfast ingredients for the perfect bagel with lox and cream cheese.
a reporter at large ·
A REPORTER AT LARGE about the 51st annual Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial held for four days every Aug. in Gallup, New Mexico. Ike Merry is a former …
u.s. journal ·
From 1972: Calvin Trillin writes that there are crawfish (or crayfish, or crawdads) all over the country, but outside of Louisiana they are all but ignored.
attractions ·
U.S. JOURNAL about several tourist attractions in the St. Petersburg area. They include a replica of the ship, "The Bounty", commissioned by MGM for use in…
fiction ·
A short story based on an item in the "Kansas City Star." A Kansas couple, Joseph & Diane Edwards, recorded every argument they had with each other, …
a reporter at large ·
Was Lee Harvey Oswald innocent? From 1967, Calvin Trillin on the group of “assassination buffs” investigating the mysteries and conspiracy theories surrounding J.F.K.’s death.
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about Kansas reaction to the war in Vietnam. Highlights of opinion and activity in Russell Protection, Salina, Topeka, Junction City, …
fiction ·
Barnett Frummer worries about not dreaming and thinks about Rosalie Mondle, whom he does not have the courage to call. To prove that he is awake, he dials …
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about Commonwealth immigrants in England. The Campaign Against Racial Discrimination known as CARD was founded last winter in the hope of…
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about research on a form of sleep called Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. It is characterized by rapid eye movements, easily seen, & a number of…
fiction ·
At a party in East Hampton, Long Island, Marlene Drentluss meets Roland Magruder, who claims to be a freelance write. Having decided from experience that …
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about the Watts Towers and about their creator Sam Rodia, who spent 33 years building a number of tall towers and other structures in his…
fiction ·
Barnett Frummer happened upon the discovery that Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour" on TV was Pop & maybe even Camp. He checked to be sure with Life …
letter from jackson ·
From 1964: Calvin Trillin on an encounter with Martin Luther King, Jr., during a summer of pressure.
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about the Zulus a group of Negroes who parade in blackface makeup in the New Orleans Mardi Gras. In New Orleans, "downtown" used to …
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about Sun City, Ariz., a town that was created 4 years ago, specifically for retired people, & now contains about 7500 of them. It is 12 …
fiction ·
Short story set in the future, concerning American and Russian astronauts. Seven Patriots, Inc. is the astronauts' business corporation.
the talk of the town ·
Calvin Trillin describes the scene at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in 1963, up until the march reached the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King, Jr., would give his “I Have a Dream” speech.
a reporter at large ·
REPORTER AT LARGE about the desegregation of the University of Georgia, which took place in Jan., 1961, with the admission of two Negro students from …
comment ·
Calvin Trillin writes that President John F. Kennedy’s nationally televised Report to the American People on Civil Rights, from June 11, 1963, was the first time since Brown v. Board of Education, nine years prior, that a President publicly reminded the country of its moral commitment to equality.