CNN Revisited (1997) and Pynchon in Cincinnati (1996)

[Richard Romeo]

check this out:  
http://www.citybeat.com/archives/1996/issue305/literary1.html

and

George Clooney and novelist Thomas Pynchon make strange bedfellows

                    By Ellen Gray

                    Knight-Ridder Newspapers

                    Who'd have ever thought that novelist Thomas Pynchon and 
``ER'' doc George Clooney would have
                    something in common?

                    But then, who'd have thought CNN and ``Hard Copy'' would 
ever find themselves digging in the
                    same sandbox?

                    Clooney last fall took on Paramount Television, owner of 
``Hard Copy,'' which had been invading his
                    privacy and spooking his girlfriend, announcing publicly 
that he'd stop talking to the tabloid show's
                    more demure corporate sister, ``Entertainment Tonight,'' 
because ``Hard Copy'' had broken its
                    agreement to stop paying people to stalk him. Within 
days, a number of Hollywood's biggest stars
                    had joined Clooney in his boycott of ``ET.''

                    Pynchon, of course, isn't starring in ``Batman & 
Robin.'' He's not the kind of guy who turns up on
                    ``Entertainment Tonight'' to plug his latest project. He 
hasn't had his picture taken for publication
                    since the early '50s. He's never sat for an interview to 
plug any of his books, which include ``Gravity's
                    Rainbow'' and ``V.,'' as well as the current best-seller 
``Mason & Dixon.''

                    When people write about George Clooney, they talk about 
his eyes, his body (``trim and handsome
                    in black,'' is how Carrie Fisher describes him in this 
month's George), his not-so-private life.

                    When they write about Pynchon they invariably use the 
word ``reclusive'' before moving quickly on to
                    his widely praised work, where the key word is most 
often ``dense.''

                    ``Hard Copy'' probably wouldn't have paid paparazzi a 
cent for a shot of Pynchon walking through
                    an airport, but that didn't stop CNN from tracking the 
writer to his neighborhood on Manhattan's
                    upper West Side a couple of weeks ago, or from capturing 
him on videotape.

                    And this is where CNN and ``Hard Copy'' part company, 
thank goodness.

                    As anyone who saw the news on CNN late last week knows, 
Pynchon's still a face in the crowd.
                    (Although if you used the freeze-frame on your VCR, you 
may think you know which face.)

                    After a CNN camera caught Pynchon twice on videotape in 
the course of a morning-long stakeout,
                    the author called an acquaintance in the network's New 
York office to ask who he could talk to
                    about it, CNN spokesman Steve Haworth said Friday.

                    Pynchon voiced his objections to CNN news executives and 
several days of debate ensued,
                    Haworth said.

                    The final decision, to show some street scenes in which 
Pynchon purportedly appears but not to
                    single him out, came, Haworth said, after CNN decided 
that Pynchon's ``was an absolutely
                    consistent stance,'' that he hadn't just decided to shun 
the press after becoming famous.

                    That's a distinction that Clooney may appreciate.

                    ``Look, when you're in the middle of your career, you 
enjoy `Entertainment Tonight' doing a story
                    about you,'' he told Fisher. ``When you get to another 
point, `Entertainment Tonight' becomes work
                    ... I don't need those shows anymore to make me more 
famous.''

                    Pynchon, too, doesn't need CNN to make him more famous, 
at least among those who read his
                    books (which I'm guessing doesn't include the CNN anchor 
who described him as a ``famous
                    mystery writer'' Friday).

                    Some would argue that as a best-selling author, 
Pynchon's a public figure. I'd say, though, that a guy
                    who's offered up only his printed words for all these 
years is entitled to his privacy. If not, we might
                    as well say we'd prefer he didn't publish at all.

                    And although CNN's Haworth said there was no quid pro 
quo involved, CNN did get one measure
                    of satisfaction from Pynchon: permission to quote him.

                    ``Let me be unambiguous. I prefer not to be 
photographed,'' he said. And he denied being a recluse:
                    ``My belief is that recluse is a code word generated by 
journalists, meaning he doesn't like to talk to
                    reporters ... It's hard for reporters to believe that 
somebody doesn't want to talk to them.''

                    And then, after CNN's story first aired Thursday night, 
Pynchon called back to set the network
                    straight on another matter. He is not, he said, the 
author of a collection of letters, written to a northern
                    California newspaper under the name Wanda Tinasky, that 
some of his more zealous fans have
                    attributed to him.

                    In an update of the story Friday, CNN quoted Pynchon as 
calling the Tinasky letters a ``hoax.''

                    Good news for Pynchon. Bad for Tinasky. Wanda, wherever 
you are: It's time to take cover.



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