The Making of a Writer

When he began teaching in the fall of 2012, Ted Hamm was originally an American History professor. However, through his undeniable passion for writing and fascination with criminal justice, Hamm made the shift into a writing profession, kick starting a 25 year career.

Hamm is the sort of professor who does not share too much with his students, rather choosing to remain reserved, but once walking into his office, there was no denying he would have a lot to talk about.

Immediately, I noticed shelves of books that lined the walls; Greg Grandin’s “Empire of Necessity,” Ayana Byrd’s “Hair Story,” and multiple works discussing the history of NYC, some untouched for years, others worn out from their extensive journey. It was clear that he was not only fond of literature, but someone who enjoyed learning. 

Hamm, who appeared a bit apprehensive, sported a casual look including faded blue jeans, a gray sweater, and black sneakers complemented by slightly combed hair and a black face mask. 

Beginning with his background, Professor Hamm, 57, mentioned how he is initially from Massachusetts, but made the move to NYC 25 years ago this past summer. After attending grad school at UC Davis in California, he and his first wife decided to lay their roots in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where he later began the publication, the Brooklyn Rail, as an editor. Existing to this day, the original intent for the paper was to act as, “A forum for us to write about things happening in the world,” Hamm mentioned, centering around New York based tendencies along with a range of different topics based on the interest of the writers. Decades later, the Brooklyn Rail is still in Brooklyn, focusing on the arts, culture, music, dance, and film. When questioning why he’d leave such a prominent role, Hamm bluntly stated how the pay was simply unsustainable. Although he loved what he was doing, he never saw himself making it a full time career if he ever hoped to support himself or a family. 

Therefore, in 2013, Hamm leaned more into teaching. He’d go on to hold positions at numerous schools as an adjunct history professor at NYU, The New School, The Metropolitan School, and eventually securing a full time position at St. Joseph’s University. Once beginning his journey at SJU, Hamm continued to pursue teaching history shortly before he and the former dean crafted the proposal to begin the Journalism and new Media Studies department. Hamm went on to state how he became inspired to make a career shift into journalism due to his time spent at the Brooklyn Rail. “There’s different levels of scholarly work in academia, and I didn’t really like stuff that's too oriented around only scholarly audiences. I liked to reach a popular audience,” as he details his desire to report on topics that range from multiple levels of importance.  

With his main inspiration lying in both the political and criminal justice field, Hamm modestly indicated that he had written three books that qualify as scholarly works, while also editing two, which he states can also qualify as scholarly works, “Depending on who’s making that assessment.” The first book, “Rebel and a Cause: Caryl Chessman and the Politics of the Death Penalty in Postwar California, 1948-1974” (2001), discusses the implications of the death penalty in certain states while “The New Blue Media” (2008), goes in depth regarding the rise of the Internet and the impact of activist media during the Bush era. From having lived in California, combined with his interest in the criminal justice realm, Hamm claimed those to be the main reasons for focusing on these topics. Mentioning how, “The death penalty and criminal justice were very hot issues in California in the 90’s, so yes, I was interested in that,” his time spent as a media creator at the Brooklyn Rail aided in his primary interest in the works of other media publications, therefore acting as the deciding factor to branch out. 

“I like to write about cases that are contested in which someone has been convicted and now they are saying they are not the culprit.” With his newly published article for The Indypendent “Waiting for Exoneration,” Hamm discusses the conviction of Carl Miller, who was sentenced in the 1979 murder of Rabbi Levi Tanner in Crown Heights. The case made headlines with much controversy due to Miller maintaining his innocence during a time period of racial injustice and culture war. Hamm therefore chose to focus on the legal process revolving around the case, as well as detailing the struggles in Miller’s life after serving 30 years in prison. 

With that, of course, came an abundance of reporting and investigating that Hamm did not always have much luck with. “One guy told me he thinks talking to reporters is the equivalent of getting a colonoscopy.” However, Hamm conducts extensive research by obtaining trial transcripts and police reports, as well as corresponding with either the prisoner themselves or their lawyer via email. The downside of reporting on such sensitive topics though, is the difficulty that comes with securing a story, and sometimes not being able to pursue one. “I probably would abandon a story sometimes because lawyers sign NDA’s and can’t talk to me. I don’t want to interrupt someone’s potential exoneration, so it’s not worth it,” and in instances like those, Hamm moves on and places his focus elsewhere. However, scratching an idea for a story is often difficult for him since he doesn’t write about every case he hears about, but rather the ones that stand out most to him. He typically defines those cases through the amount of evidence the prosecution used to convict someone, but can often find himself down on his luck with not much to report on. 

Through his process of deciding which stories to feature, Hamm chooses cases that existed before social media. He would look through publications to uncover new information that would aid a current developing story. In fact, one of Hamm’s students, Dustin Bailey is mentioned in his newest article. “He did some leg work going to the public library this summer looking through the New York Post and New York Daily News.” Bailey describes his working experience as, “Cool because the story was one that could really have a direct impact on someone’s life… so, I was happy to be a part of that.” 

Hamm does, however, use social media to promote his stories, although he has had some setbacks with the platforms as of late due to the ever changing world of Twitter, where he’d reach a majority of his audience. “It’s harder to gauge who’s reading my stories, a lot of people are turning away from twitter. That's the place to get some attention, but I don’t know in great numbers how many people have read my work.” 

Professor Hamm has since brought his talents to SJC and along with students, began The JOE. As the school’s current newspaper, The JOE has allowed students to report on stories they feel passionate about and get a feel for what it is like to actively write and publish works. Hamm describes the success of the paper through the positive development of his students. “We’re growing. I think the students are putting together good stories. I'm seeing improvement.”

With over 100 stories written, Hamm has no plans of halting his career as a writer both in and out of SJC, while also focusing on individuality throughout his own work. “I see that a lot,” when discussing how most writers are similar in the works they produce. “In devouring local media, as I do, I see a lot of the same stuff being said. So I like to do things differently.”