The Profile Dossier: Gay Talese, the Pioneer of Narrative Non-Fiction

"For 60 years, I still have not lost my sense of wonder and amazement at how extraordinary the ordinary person is if you know them well."

Gay Talese’s famous 1966 Esquire profile, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” became the gold standard of profile writing even though he never once spoke with Sinatra himself.

The story became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, and is often considered one of history’s greatest celebrity profiles. This iconic feature pioneered a form of “…