Exciting and new !
YOU OUGHT TO DO A STORY ABOUT ME
By Ted Jackson
Every few years, a story comes along that pierces the national consciousness and begs new questions of our place in the world.
"This masterpiece of dogged and loving reporting will astonish you and touch your heart." - WALTER ISAACSON, AUTHOR OF STEVE JOBS AND LEONARDO DA VINCI
Now available in Hardcover or paperback
Available wherever books are sold:
YOU OUGHT TO DO A STORY ABOUT ME
"It breaks your heart and puts it back together again stronger."
- MARK LORANDO, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
"This book will melt your heart. The story of Jackie Wallace is an unforgettable tale of hope, grace, and the miracle of the human spirit. Ted Jackson writes with searing
honesty and deep love for a troubled
man who started as his subject and
became his lifelong friend."
- JONATHAN EIG, BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF ALI: A LIFE AND LUCKIEST MAN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LOU GEHRIG
In 1990, a homeless man looked me in the eye and said,
"You Ought to do a story about me."
I asked him why.
"Because I've played in three Super Bowls."
You Ought To Do a Story About Me is a heartbreaking and redemptive story of a fallen-from-grace NFL player, discovered by a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist on the streets of New Orleans, and the transformative friendship that binds them.
In 1990, while covering a story about homelessness for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Ted Jackson encountered a half-naked drug addict sleeping under a bridge. After snapping a photo, Jackson woke the man. Pointing to the daily newspaper by his feet, the homeless stranger looked the photojournalist in the eye and said, “You ought to do a story about me.” When Ted asked why, he was stunned by the answer. “Because, I’ve played in three Super Bowls.”
That chance meeting was the start of Ted’s thirty-year relationship with Jackie Wallace, a former NFL star who rose to the pinnacle of fame and fortune, only to crash and lose it all. Getting to know Jackie, Ted learned the details of his life, and how he spiraled into the “vortex of darkness” that left him addicted and living on the streets of New Orleans.
Ted chronicles Jackie's life from his teenage years in New Orleans through college and the NFL to the end of his pro career and the untimely death of his mother—devastating events that led him into addiction and homelessness. Throughout, Ted pays tribute to the enduring friendship he shares with this man he has come to help and also look at as an inspiration. But Ted is not naïve; he speaks frankly about the risk that such a relationship poses: Can a man like Jackie recover, or is he destined to roam the streets until his end?
Tragic and triumphant, inspiring and infuriating, YOU OUGHT TO DO A STORY ABOUT ME offers a rare glimpse into the precarious world of homelessness and the lingering impact of systemic racism and poverty on the lives of NOLA’s citizens. Lyrical and evocative, Ted's account is pure, singular, and ambitious—a timeless tale about loss, redemption, and hope in their multifarious forms.
"It is a story defined by both the brutality of drug addiction and the beauty of friendship."
- BERT JONES, FORMER BALTIMORE COLTS AND LSU QUARTERBACK AND INDUCTEE INTO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME.
KGUN interview: 2/5/2018
"This author of this piece is a photographer, but boy can he write. Wonderful work."
BRIT HUME, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
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