Richard Ben Cramer, author of "What It Takes," died in Baltimore on Monday night. He was 62.
If there's a single book that changed the course of my life, it was "What It Takes." When I say "changed my life," I'm not being hyperbolic: I read Cramer's book in college. It got me interested in Gary Hart, which was, to say the least, an unusual interest for freshman in 2003. But Hart, as it happened, was considering a presidential run. I worked a bit for his pre-campaign, and by the time it folded, I'd attracted the attention of Joe Trippi, a former Hart staffer who was now running Howard Dean's rocket-fueled candidacy. Trippi kindly invited me to Burlington, Vt., where I learned that I hated working for politicians but loved blogging. If I hadn't read "What It Takes," my life might have taken a very different path.
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