Two Writers

In his beautiful essay “Why Write”, Paul Auster, who died this week, recalled trying to get the autograph of the baseball star Willie Mays but not having a pencil:

“Sorry, kid,” he said. “Ain’t got no pencil, can’t give no autograph.” And then he walked out of the ballpark into the night.

The young Auster was crushed:

Not only did I not have Willie Mays’ …