Imagine this on official company stationery.
September 18, 1991
To Whom It May Concern
Communication is an art. Free-lance writing is a craft. Jack D. Welch has a strong grip on both.
In my tenure with This Week magazine – first as a copy editor, then as an assistant editor, and now as editor – I have worked closely with Jack and his writing. He has been a prolific cover and feature story writer and a columnist for us, handling each assignment with a deft touch, polished style and a joyful sense of this labor we call writing.
One of the crucial aspects of contributing to a weekly (or for any publication) is that ideas be conveyed clearly, concisely, crisply, and with flair. Jack does all of that. He is incisive, researches his stories well and has, over the years, developed his own singular style and voice. He is professional, timely and able to flesh out even the weakest or trickiest story assignments. All without complaining. Much.
Please consider this man for whatever position he is seeking and for whatever reason prompted him to hand this meager letter to you. Should the information herein be on the slender side, I am available to discuss him at length. And shall, given half a chance. The stories I could tell…
Sincerely,
Don Campbell
Editor
Epilogue. When I first saw this letter, I had two thoughts. It’s all true, and he must have been stoned.
Nearly thirty years later, I sent a copy of his letter to that editor, that Don Campbell (pictured at top in a moment of ecstasy.)
“Wow. How high was I? Wonder if I was cracking up the whole time I was writing this? Or, for that matter, even conscious.”
Contemporaneous photo by Carla Perry. On assignment. My left eye remains a little squinty to this day.
And yet, and yet, nobody would ever hire me.
Maybe he should have toned it down.
Makes me seem too amazing to be out of work.
Something suspicious, maybe it’s the squint.