In his 13 years at the Raleigh News and Observer, J. Peder Zane says he tried to perfect the art of the newspaper column.
Zane came to North Carolina in 1996 to be the paper's book review editor after years as a reporter for the New York Times. His journalism experience informed the way he would tackle his own commentary: by connecting today's newsmakers to the complex characters in American literature.
More than 100 of his columns about literature, politics and the media have been compiled in a new collection, called Off the Books (University of South Carolina Press/2015).
Host Frank Stasio talks with Zane about his career as a columnist and adapting to changing media.