Looking for Interviews

[la6865]

Hi everyone....I am a journalism/Creative Writing student at Emory University. I'm working on a final writing project about trainhopping - trainhopper's stories, backgrounds etc. (I became interested in the story after hearing about a great uncle of mine who hopped trains during the Great Depression and often wrote about it). I'm looking for some people to interview (and potentially shadow) so I can get first hand stories and really understand the lifestyle and the experience. If anyone in the Atlanta area (I'm willing to travel a bit to meet people, so maybe a 50 mile radius) is willing to sit down for an interview/show me around I would really appreciate the opportunity. (If you aren't in the ATL/GA area and would still be interested in being interviewed over the phone or via email, I'd be interested in that as well). Feel free to message me through here or email: labunas@emory.edu
Thanks very much!

 

[creature]

yer Great Uncle dinna have one really squinty eye & go by the name of george, did he???

 

[creature]

40 years ago my Grandma's BF talked to me about that stuff.. i wound up on a flatbed outta can's ass, about 3 days later... boy, were people pissed at him : )

 

[Tude]

no. we have had way too many people here asking for the same thing. Seems like this kind of stuff is fodder for school papers all over the place. Cool stuff, but it is real stuff. A better topic that would be more useful would be how to take care of the homeless in the cities, how to feed them, how to house them versus tearing up their encampments and arresting people trying to distribute food to them. Now that would be a good topic.

 

[Desperado Deluxe]

@thatjournalist he might be able to help seems kinda up his alley.

 

[la6865]

@FoxSpirit - thanks very much! I'll look into it.

@Tude: thanks for your feedback. Maybe I should clarify - this really isn't a typical school essay. Though it is for a class, the purpose it to write it as a professional article. (It's not too unlike the requests this site has posted for articles/stories). As I mentioned, I've had family members who have hopped trains, so I understand it is a way of life for sure. That's why I'd like to get to speak to people who actually do it. I want to be able to understand it more and write about it accurately. I have been doing quite a bit of outside research, I assure you it's not just a light/surface piece. I'm really just looking for first hand stories at this point. I definitely understand though if you wouldn't want to take the time to talk, but I'm hoping someone else might have the time. Just putting it out there. Re: story about the homeless, yes definitely sounds like a very good story to write about another time. I've actually done a bit of work on something a little similar regarding dumpster diving and the tension between hunger and this country and the huge amounts of food we waste.

 

[Tude]

@la6865 thanks for the clarification Hope ya get some people contacting you