As The Greatest Living American Writer, I accept TIME’s Person Of The Year Award on behalf of all writers, journalists & writers who write about journalism,
As The Greatest Living American Writer, I accept this Time Person Of The Year Award on behalf of all writers, and all journalists, all writers who write about journalism, and all journalists who journal about writing. We live in a time of great repression, where no American can express their ideas freely without fear of government reprisal. One after another, my literary colleagues have been disappearing, their hearts broken by what our country has become. Where did they go, those courageous writers of yesteryear? Those of us who remain must stand tall––or at least sit comfortably.
From the Velvet Revolution to the French Revolution to the Revolution of Velvet Frenchmen, words have provided the backbone for the people’s courage. They need us, as we need them, but they need us more. Without writers and writing, reading would cease to exist, but without readers, writers would still write. In countries that I’ve never visited because junkets rarely go there, writers and journalists die another day for daring to expose evil. That is terrible and I stand tall in solidarity with them. After all, in America, we sometimes get dragged on Twitter. We all fight the same fight.
The writers were the first people to warn us about Donald Trump, and we were also the second people. We remain, now and forever, the third people.
