Long live long-form journalism: How an Alberta publisher is keeping the story alive

“It’s almost like the magazine writer’s version of a 7-inch record.”

That’s what Jason Fagone, a journalist living in the San Francisco Bay Area, had to say about one of his online stories being published by Alberta publisher Hingston & Olsen as a part of “The Permanent Record Series.”

Hingston & Olsen saw an opportunity. Long-form journalism has existed for a long time, but what happens when the link dies, a newspaper gets thrown out or, the magazine gets cut up to be used as a vision board?

“We see all the time that if websites go under, their archives are suddenly scrubbed, or large media companies sometimes disappear overnight. The material that we thought was readily available suddenly isn’t so much,” Hingston & Olsen co-publisher Michael Hingston said.

Each book is dedicated to a single story that is hand signed and numbered by the author. Designer Natalie Olsen picked letter press title bands, coloured paper that subtly reflects the theme of the story and ensured that when the series of books are stacked together, there will be a recurring motif. Each book is also limited in print to only a few hundred. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

“We wanted to kind of take this great work that’s being done in the digital sphere, in the print sphere, in the magazine sphere and just give it a second home in book form,” Hingston said.

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What makes these books so special for Hingston is the afterword written by the author. It gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look into how the story they just read came to exist, and how journalists find these stories to tell.

Edmonton’s Jana Pruden is a writer/reporter for the Globe and Mail.

“Fear on the Family Farm” was the first book to be part of “The Permanent Record Series.” It was originally published in the Edmonton Journal in 2013, but the journey to get to the story actually started two years prior for Pruden. Somebody had mentioned in passing a case in Grande Prairie where the domestic violence defense was going to be used. Her plan was to do a legal brief about it. That quickly changed.

“As I started looking into it, I just found that this family was so remarkable and so interesting and I just knew that there was much, much, more to this story than that,” Pruden said.

It took Pruden two years to convince the mother, Holly Crichton, to let her tell Crichton’s story of domestic violence. Matthew Crichton, Holly’s son, had been charged with the first-degree murder of his father, Sandy. But the story went much deeper.

“She basically says now that she was just hoping I would forget about it,” Pruden said laughing. “And I didn’t, so eventually she says, yes.”

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Pruden spent three days out at the family farm. On the first night, a snow storm forced her to turn back before getting on the highway. Crichton was already making up a bed. Pruden spent that night in Matthew’s old room. Looking out the window, she could see the exact spot he had confronted his father for the last time.

She knew she had to work quickly before the Crichtons changed their minds. To this day, she stands by her persistence.

“They’re a family that has never wanted a lot of attention. That was part of why it took me so long to convince them,” Pruden said. “But I really did believe that this story was important. And I’ve heard that again and again and again. People have written me from all over the world to say how much it meant to them.”

“Jerry and Marge Go Large” was originally published online on the Huffington Post Highline on March 1, 2018. Fagone had first heard the story of how the retired Michigan couple discovered a loophole in America’s beloved pastime, gambling. The couple then exploited it… legally. The story was part of a larger investigation done by The Boston Globe a few years prior. The story of Gerald (Jerry) and Marge Selbee stood out to Fagone.

“To me, this is such an amazing tale because it’s so unlikely that somebody like Jerry and Marge would be able to figure this out, exploit it and win… but that’s exactly what they did,” Fagone said.

To get to the heart of the story, Fagone called Jerry Selbee. Much to his surprise, they spoke for over an hour on the phone.

“The fact is that he had really no guilt or sense of shame about what he had done. He had done it completely legally and he was proud of having figured out this loophole in America’s lottery system,” Fagone said.

Fagone knew that to tell the story properly he would have to fly to meet the Selbees and interview their friends and family who also took part in the lottery pool. It took Fagone about four years to piece together the story that itself spanned almost a decade, involved a rivalry with a group of MIT students, countless road trips across state lines and ended with a total of US$27 million in winnings.

Last year, Michael Hingston from Hingston & Olsen reached out to Fagone. He wanted to turn “Jerry and Marge Go Large” into a collector’s edition book. It is now the second in “The Permanent Record Series.”

There are thousands of stories published online, in newspapers, or in magazines that Hingston & Olsen could make a part of their series. So what makes one stand out?

“There’s no shortage of material to draw from. We’re really looking for a combination of strong characters, really entertaining stories and really strong reporting as well,” Hingston said. “Colourful details, a really strong narrative voice. So when all those things come together, you get these stories that you can’t stop reading, even if you want to.”

Fagone and Pruden agree that having a story live forever in book form is an honor. Not just because of the story itself, but because they are a labor of love.

“A lot of the time we, as reporters, are working on things that are only online. Links break and sometimes even the outlets where we publish things go debunked and go away and the archive just disappears,” Fagone said.

“Fear on the Family Farm” is sold out. Three-hundred copies were printed. Pruden made sure that the first copy went to someone special.

“The copies that I got, I was able to take number one. I gave that one to Holly.”

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“Jerry and Marge Go Large” launched on Hingston & Olsen’s website last month in a limited run of 500 copies. The book marks a milestone for Fagone.

“I put a couple on my personal bookshelf and I look at it and I just get a big grin and when I see it because it’s just something I never expected would be in the world.”

As for Jerry and Marge, he’s still in touch with them. They write letters to each other from time to time. Fagone said one of the copies sitting on his desk is destined for the retired couple.

“I think they’ll open the package and see it and wonder what it is and I hope that they like it, and I hope that they enjoy it and I hope that they appreciate that it exists,” Fagone said. “It really is a tribute to them and what they accomplished — this kind of incredible caper.”