Dan Barry brought sports memories, tales of social injustice and burlesque dancing instructions to the Amos Fortune Forum on Friday.
The most important things that the long-time reporter and New York Times columnist brought to the Jaffrey Meeting House, though, were the moments in his own life that he recounted, with discernable rehearsing and professionalism, and his notes on how they made him the man he is.
“That’s the most precious thing we have to give,” he said. “Our narrative, our story.”
Barry began his career as a reporter in Connecticut covering local characters and municipal government. After a stint in Rhode Island (during which time Buddy Cianci called him “The worst ‘so-and-so’ in his business”), Barry made it to the New York Times.
“My father’s rage against the establishment, my mother’s love of stories, and the fact I was always getting beaten up,” made him suited for journalism, Barry said.
“I wanted to hold the bullies accountable.”
Barry recently published his third book, “Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland,” about the mistreatment of men with disabilities who were held for decades of servitude in Iowa.
It began as part of his “This Land” column in the Times. He first learned about the men through a piece by The Associated Press about a lawsuit filed on the men’s behalf, a manner in which he finds many of his stories.
“Others may say that’s a small news brief,” he said. “I try to tease it into something more universal.”
He hopes that telling the story holds these men’s bullies accountable.
“We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” he said. “We have to remain vigilant in protecting the people in our community.”
When asked during the Q&A what gives him hope, he answered that the Jaffrey crowd certainly did.
He said, “Being here tonight, that’s what gives me hope.”
The Amos Fortune Forum will continue on July 29, with a first-hand account of the German refugee crisis from Susanne Wentzler.