Jim Newton, a Palo Alto native, has worked at three major newspapers: The New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Los Angeles Times, where he now serves as editor of the editorial page. But the first story he ever sold wasn’t for any of those three. “I wrote a story about a guitar player,” Newton said, “and I sold it to the Palo Alto Weekly. I was a stringer there in high school, and it’s now actually a very successful paper.” Read more about Newton below.
Q. What do you wake up to?
A. I usually wake up to the sound of my dog barking at squirrels.
Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. The only music I’ve heard today would be the NPR theme music, I’m afraid.
Q. What is your favorite word?
A. Sycamore.
Q. What do you find beautiful?
A. Mountains. Wilderness. Many other things.
Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or fewer?
A. Father, journalist, author, politically engaged.
Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A. I wanted either to be a journalist or a centerfielder for the San Francisco Giants.
Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. Scotch and soda.
Q. What is your greatest extravagance?
A. I own a Macbook Air, just because I love the way it looks.
Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?
A. I would like to write, as I do in this life, but I would love to write fiction. I don’t sense that’s likely to happen in this life.
Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. I have very fond memories of going to Giants games with my great uncle, Chip.
Q. What is your most prized material possession?
A. A Rolex watch that my wife gave me.
Q. What promise do you make to yourself that you break the most often?
A. I promise myself all the time I will make more headway on my book. I’m always behind on where I want to be. I always say this weekend is the weekend I will write the new chapter. It tends to slip away.
Q. What should you throw away but haven’t been able to part with?
A. A bunch of old clips from when I was in high school and college that are out in the garage.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead with whom you would most like to have a drink?
A. I gotta go with Earl Warren.
To read more about the panel Newton moderated, on California’s education gap, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.