Kudos to Andrea Simakis for providing this very extensive recounting of a recent talk by two unusual Lincoln biographers: The Lincoln screenwriter Tony Kushner, and the hipster historian Sarah Vowell, author of the hilarious and weird, Assassination Vacation. I’m hoping to find some video from this event, but if that fails at least I have this wonderful little anecdote in which to revel:
“Listen,” Goodwin told a still-wobbling Kushner. “When I started ‘Team of Rivals’ 10 years ago, I felt the same way you’re feeling now – I had no idea if I could pull this off, and it seemed impossible to contribute anything new about Lincoln.”
And, she added, to try to understand Lincoln “seemed hubristic.”
“But I can promise you one thing,” he remembers her saying. “Whether you succeed or if you fail, you will never regret the time you spend in his company.”