A harbor pilot steers a great ship through the Verrazano Narrows, the last task of his career. This piece is attentively and elegantly told. What we find most instructive is how Barron chose to approach the story. He looked for character, not just news. Sure, he also included quotes from onlookers and reported what the mayor said. But the heart of the story is the harbor captain and his last day on the job, his success in getting the awesome craft to the dock. In this way, Barron suffuses the news story with timeless themes.
Read “A Queen Arrives, and Even in Jaded New York, Jaws Drop,” by James Barron