Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/732891
70 michiganavemag.com photography by benjamin benschneider (Larson) bestselling writer er larson celebrates a milestone in the very place that inspired The devil in The whiTe ciTy. By ChuCk AnsBACher making history "it's like a great big hug from chicago, a city i adore." —erik larson "Just to have my name mentioned in the same breath as Sandburg's is a huge thing," says Erik Larson, who on October 26 will receive the Chicago Public Library's prestigious Carl Sandburg Literary Award, joining the likes of Vonnegut, Oates, Wolfe, and Rushdie. Larson has staked a claim atop bestseller lists by perfecting the art of the historical non-fiction page-turner. From the 1893 World's Fair to Hitler's Berlin to, most recently in Dead Wake, the sinking of the Lusitania, Larson is unrivaled in his ability to infuse the painstak- ingly detailed past with a thrilling pulse. With cameras set to roll on Devil in the White City's film adaptation, we asked Larson about his project selection, and his (lack of) involvement in the cinematic process. Why Wake? "What drew me was the possibility of telling the story in a way that hadn't been done before—capturing the real, live suspense of the thing, to create what I hoped would be a non-fiction maritime thriller." The spark: "Luck plays a big part in it—but I like to think I put myself in the path of luck, by reading widely and just generally paying attention. Because you never know what random thing will light the fuse that leads to the next idea." Camera shy: "Guys like DiCaprio and Scorsese and Billy Ray, who are doing Devil in the White City, are talented and experienced film people. The only thing I could do to help the process would be to deliver coffee each morning, and even then I'd probably spill it." . Scene author, author