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Amy
Fisher, Journalist? By now, you’ve probably heard that the former “Long
Island Lolita” is penning a column for a Long Island newspaper.
No, it’s not an advice column, as has been reported elsewhere.
It’s a column about her life. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last
decade, Amy Fisher was the 16-year-old who had an affair with Joey Buttafuoco
and then shot his wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the head. Fisher served seven years in prison, and is now out on
parole. After she got out of jail, she changed her identity and
started applying for jobs. However,
she couldn’t keep a job, because as soon as employees figured out who she was,
she got fired. But the New Island Ear, a free biweekly newspaper,
decided to give her a shot as a writer. Why?
“We hired Amy Fisher for several reasons,” says Robbie Woliver, the Ear's
editor-in-chief. “We heard that
she was a good writer and we thought it would be an interesting idea to offer
her a column. We knew we would get
attention on Long Island, but we never expected it to become such a gigantic
international story. But as one
producer from CNN told me, it's a big story because she is always a big story
and this is the first time that her name has been in the media for something
positive. So the column has helped
rehabilitate her image. Many people
are finally reading her side, learning about her life and finding her to be a
good writer.” As far as Woliver
knows, this is Fisher’s first writing job... though he mentions that she was
an “A” student in English and writing classes at Nassau Community College.
Fisher’s column
will address readers’ questions (readers can send questions by e-mail), and
she will also write feature and cover stories. In a Newsday
article, it was reported that Woliver is a “self-proclaimed Amy Fisher fan.”
When asked about this, Woliver responded, “Aaaarrrgggh!
I NEVER called/proclaimed myself a fan of Amy Fisher.
That was an example of sensational, irresponsible and sloppy journalism
by a Newsday reporter.” Fisher has gone to
great lengths to avoid media attention and conceal her identity—during her job
hunt, she changed her name, dyed her hair blonde, and underwent plastic surgery
to reconstruct her face. So why is
she now purposely putting her name in newspapers again? “She needs a job.
And it's an anonymous job. And
she likes writing. And it's drawing
attention for something positive,” says Woliver. In her cover story,
“Judging Amy: My Story,” Fisher writes, “I’m
the first to admit it: I screwed up! I
was a misguided, reckless 16-year-old who committed felony assault and landed in
jail by age 17. That was 10 years
ago. I’ve paid my dues, grown up,
and have spent every day since trying to be ‘the perfect human being.’
I’m an adult now, thank heaven, and still can’t figure out why I did
what I did when I was younger, and why society thinks I’m a static cartoon
character like Scooby-Doo, frozen in time, never changing.” But Woliver insists
that he wouldn’t have hired her if she couldn’t write.
“Celebrity is not more important than writing skill, but if you have
both, then you have something that people are more inclined to be interested in
reading.” And people
certainly are reading. According to
Woliver, their paper has been “flying off the shelves” ever since her first
story ran on June 20th, and their website has been overwhelmed with
visitors who are bookmarking the site to keep up with her columns. There is a line to
be drawn, though, says Woliver. He
says he would never have hired someone like “Unibomber” Ted Kaczynski or
“Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, no matter whether or not they could write.
“Amy was an abused young teenager (that's no excuse for attempting to
shoot someone), and it is 10 years later. Her
victim forgave her-- it's a much different story than the guys you mention.
There is definitely a line.” But isn’t Woliver
afraid that having Fisher as a columnist will hurt the Ear’s
credibility? “For the thousands
of letters Amy has received, only a handful have been mean-spirited.
Most are gushing with praise for her stories and wishing her luck with
this second chance. Hundreds of
media outlets have contacted us about reprinting her.
The New York Times has already written two stories about this.
Hurting our credibility? No,
I don't think so. Everyone who is
reading the paper for Amy is enjoying what she has written, and guess what?
They're getting to read the rest of our paper, which they would never
have been doing.” You can read Fisher’s story on the New Island Ear’s website at http://www.islandear.com/. Visit Amy's website at http://www.amyfisher.com. Jenna Glatzer is a nationally-published freelance writer and the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com). She is the author of Words You Thought You Knew: 1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood Words and Phrases, as well as lots of other books that you can find here: http://www.jennaglatzer.com.
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