Jayson Blair

We all are often asked why we do things. We often don't have logical, cogent answers. I often get asked the question "Why" I do certain things, and I often rationalize my answers - my "go big or go home personality," because of the righteousness of the mission or because of the outcomes. Sometimes, it's because of what my man David says. I'm just shooting until I run out of bullets. Many of my friends and former colleagues are writers, and several of them have sharp wit and insight. For those who are blessed by the talent gene pool, none can compare to the hard-working yeoman, David Carr, a media columnist at The New York Times, who has an ability to consistently throw the last-minute, three-point literary shoot to win the game or to just run up the score. David has a way with words that sets him far apart from many of his contemporaries. He once wrote a column about the future of journalism in New York City in the cadence of E.B. White's "Here ...

I don't write much these days about my own past unless it has some relevance to the work I'm doing to help people now as a life coach and through the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance-Northern Virginia . But, for those of you have e-mailed with questions about the role that bipolar disorder played in my previous life, I should say that it did not cause my problems, mania and depression just added fuel to a fire that was already burning bright. You can read more in my book "Burning Down My Masters' House: A Personal Descent into Madness that Shook The New York Times" or you can read the free, cliff-notes version at The New York Times Company's About.com website article called "Jayson Blair has Bipolar Disorder."