Oren Spiegler gets trip to New York Times for letter writing
It’s the dream of many a journalist to get their work in The New York Times, the most revered (and, to some, reviled) newspaper in the United States.
The former Upper St. Clair resident Oren Spiegler, who recently moved to South Strabane Township, has fulfilled that ambition without even being a full-time scribe.
Readers of The Almanac and Observer-Reporter newspapers are familiar with Spiegler’s work, as his letters to the editor and occasional longer commentary pieces have appeared frequently. But the prolific Spiegler, who wrote his first letter to the editor at age 17 and hasn’t stopped since, has also had about 60 letters printed in The New York Times. Considering that the Times gets about 800 letters a day, it takes more than quickly pounding out a few random thoughts and hitting “send” to nab some precious acreage in the Old Gray Lady. But given his voracious reading habits and keen interest in public affairs, Spiegler’s repeat appearances should not really come as a surprise.
In fact, the 62-year-old Spiegler was given a tip of the hat by The New York Times in May when he was invited to the newspaper’s offices in Manhattan to meet with the editors of its opinion pages. He was part of a select group of other writers whose letters are regularly accepted.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to meet each other and chat,” Spiegler said.
And just as some people recognize his name when he goes about his daily business in this region, which includes a full-time job as a public sector hearing officer, some of his fellow letter writers were eager to put a face to his name. According to Spiegler, one writer from Clearwater, Fla., announced that she wanted to meet two people that night – Spiegler and another contributor to the letters column named Kenneth Zimmerman.
“The three of us spent a good deal of time chatting and had a wonderful time together discussing our triumphs and our challenges in getting material published,” Spiegler recalled.
Spiegler’s letters have also appeared in other national newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and USA Today. One of his letters, about Bill Cosby’s misdeeds, appeared recently in People magazine. And though he is obviously fluent in national issues, he has also written frequently on local and state issues, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Greensburg’s Tribune-Review, Beaver County Times and Herald-Standard in Uniontown publishing his work.
How many letters has he written since the first one, which was sent to the Pittsburgh Press and advocated for a higher minimum wage? “Tens of thousands,” Spiegler estimated, and about 4,000 have been printed.
What issues motivate Spiegler? He’s no fan of President Trump, and has long been critical of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. Spiegler also thinks the state should privatize its system of liquor stores. On any given day, though, Spiegler wakes up sometime after 4 a.m., scans the newspapers and fires off a letter before he heads to work.
“I don’t feel the need to sleep in,” he said. “I wake up ready to go.”
Along with gaining fans and detractors among newspaper readers, Spiegler letters have attracted the attention of some of the politicians he writes about. When he was a state representative, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had a one-on-one talk with Spiegler about his “disgust with many members of the General Assembly” during a stop Shapiro made in Pittsburgh in 2010. And then there was former state Rep. Bill DeWeese. Spiegler remembered that DeWeese tried to make “common cause” with him, but then turned on him in a letter sent to the Herald-Standard. In the dispatch, DeWeese denounced Spiegler for the “antagonistic tone of his rhetoric against my long tenure in public service.”
A byproduct of his long tenure in writing letters to the editor is the development of a thick skin.
“I’m not someone who thrives on confrontation by any means, but it’s important to me to express my views,” Spiegler said.
And no, Spiegler, himself, is not interested in running for office.
“I don’t think I’d want to deal with someone like me.”