Writing Literary Features

This story was a long time coming. Gilbert M. Gaul conceived of the idea almost 2 years before the story appeared. In between, Gaul changed jobs, went from covering crime and corruption in the Anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania to reporting about the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The miners involved in this story kept in touch, and Gaul did some research on mine inspections. When the federal government was not forthright enough, he obtained some of his information through the Freedom of Information Act. A year after conceiving the story, he decided to write it in a magazine format and find a publisher later. Thus, the story was written before Gaul returned to his old newspaper, The Pottsville ( Pennsylvania) Republican, which published it.

Gilbert M. Gaul is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University with a major in psychology and minors in English and history. He also received certification to teach from Montclair State College in New Jersey. He free-lanced for numerous newspapers and small magazines then went to work for the Times-News in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. After three years, he joined the staff of The Pottsville Republican. While there, he shared a Pulitzer Prize for special local reporting. He moved on to The Bulletin in Philadelphia (to cover Atlantic City) and then returned to the Republican. In 1982 he was chosen as a Nieman Fellow. In September of 1983, he joined the staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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