'This legacy of learning continues for both of us, and I'm better for it': A 20-year journalist describes how his father got him ready for the world
- Justin Maiman has been a journalist for 20 years. He writes the weekly Ginger newsletter and is the president and managing director of Cochrane Media.
- In this opinion piece, he writes that his father, retired political science professor Richard Maiman, has been a major influence on his career in journalism and media - but he never realized it until recently.
- Books were everywhere at their home, an environment perfectly constructed for the absorption of news and information.
- "I knew from early on that the world was bigger than me and that there was always more to know, more questions to ask, and more to people and things than they sometimes reveal," he writes.
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I don't know why it took me so long to realize this, but it turns out my dad had a supersized influence on my career in journalism and media. He may not realize it either, but he's long overdue for getting some credit.
From the beginning, my dad instilled in me a deep love of learning, which set me up perfectly for all my career choices - where, in each instance, I had a lot to learn.
My dad's influence was passed along through example, engagement, and steady talking. Starting as a kid, media was a constant in our Maine home, in our car, in our family conversations at dinner, and in our ongoing exchanges, particularly about politics. The radio was on at all times, either tuned to the classical station or the NPR news station. In the morning, we fought over sections of the Portland Press Herald as we ate our Honey Nut Cheerios. I even got to accompany my dad on some afternoons to see his "guy" at a downtown convenience store who put aside The New York Times for him every day. Back then, that was an exotic piece of media that shone with importance for me. Thanks to newspapers, radio, and TV, I was exposed to an ever-expanding world through media.
Books were everywhere, too: In our house, where we had full bookcases in the living room and in my dad's study, and in my own room too. (I remember proudly having a bookcase of my own.) Reading, from a very young age, was a way to immerse myself in other characters and environments. I read everything I could get my hands on. And whenever I got to go see my dad at his office, books upon books seemed to form the foundation upon which his and his colleagues' offices were actually built. The department reeked of books and paper, coffee, and cigars. I didn't like the smell of old coffee so much, but I loved the walls of books.
All this was an environment perfectly constructed for learning and the absorption of news and information. I just had to open my eyes and ears - and, yes, the books.
A teacher of all things
My dad was a teacher - a political science professor - but a teacher of all things, at heart.
At home, in the car, and on hikes, he taught me political history, US history, world history, sports history, and family history. Yes, history was the through line. He believed in knowing and sharing things. Stories and facts had real value and worth in his world.
That renaissance idea that knowledge will make you complete trickled down to me.
Courtesy of Kathy TelfordJustin Maiman and his father, Richard.
So how did all this help my career? It gave me a broad base of general knowledge that later helped me as a writer, producer, and reporter covering everything from local politics to business and culture. But even more so, it meant I had a monstrous toolkit of skills that I could access to learn a lot about a subject very quickly. I was and remain curious. For me, reading and doing research became rote activities. Over and over, that proved to be a big asset in newsrooms when writing stories and sitting in meetings surrounded by people smarter and more experienced than me. I knew from early on that the world was bigger than me and that there was always more to know, more questions to ask, and more to people and things than they sometimes reveal.
Later, it also proved to be a big advantage when interviewing and working with experts. I (still) am jealous of people with narrow but absolute and complete knowledge of one subject, like that scientist who knows everything about the life, biology, and history of spotted salamanders that live in upstate New York. Scientists, of course, must have this kind of focus. Academics do too. And that's what my dad was until he retired a few years ago, a social scientist focused on politics and constitutional law. However, while he did have an expertise, he had always drawn on broader interests in the performing arts, the outdoors, and travel that made him a more complete person. And probably made him a better teacher too.
That has led him to the next challenge. In "retirement" he discovered a grand project that he couldn't pass up - the chance to write a biography of a former circuit court judge, which is nearly finished.
This legacy of learning continues for both of us, and I'm better for it.
To my dad and all the others who got their kids ready for the world: Thank you, and Happy Father's Day!
Justin Maiman writes a weekly newsletter called Ginger that's devoted to moments of inspiration. You can read Ginger and subscribe for free here. He's a journalist with more than 20 years of experience in digital media and television, including working at media titans like Business Insider, Yahoo, Bloomberg, Fox News and PBS affiliates in St. Paul and Boston. He's currently the president and managing director of Cochrane Media, a boutique media shop in New York.