A LITERARY AGENT TAKES SIDES

Sandy Dijsktra has been called an über agent as much for the passion she brings to her projects as for the authors she represents. Apparently her passion also extends to politics. The other day her authors -- among them Amy Tan, Mike Davis, Susan Faludi, Maxine Hong Kingston, Peggy Orenstein, John Richardson, Kate White, Karen Houppert, Jess Bravin, Maureen McHugh, Luis Urrea and Kevin Maney -- received this email message:

Dear Friends,

Thinking about "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Humankind" in October, we at the Dijkstra Agency have decided that these goals can be best achieved not by our annual New Year's card but instead by taking the funds allocated to their production and sending them to the peace candidate, John Kerry!

Dijkstra sent along an essay by E.L. Doctorow, "The Unfeeling President," as well. Doctorow writes: "He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. ... He hasn't the mind for it. ... He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. ...  To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. ... He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves."

Dijkstra's passionate beliefs are not all that sets her apart. Unlike most top literary agents, she's based not in New York but in the little southern California beach town of Del Mar, best known for its quaint, 67-year-old race track. She's also crazy about recruiting authors from the ranks of journalists. Interviewed by the editor of the ASJA Monthly, published by the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Djikstra explained:

Journalists are the source of intense interest by publishers these days. They are the kings and queens of Bookland, in that they bring credentials, writing talent, a sense of story and access. And the books they produce represent a new kind of history-writing for a wider readership. Called "narrative nonfiction," these stories are hot! Since fiction can be so tough to sell, everyone wants the story du jour and/or some bizarre twist on the same from now or the past. The quality of the writing makes all the difference.

As a book-writing journalist myself, I say amen to that. Besides, it's good to see somebody standing up for professional journalists, who have come under attack these days for all sorts of reasons, legitimate and otherwise, as perhaps never before. So hat's off to Dijkstra. (And no, she's not my agent.)

Correction: John Richardson, Susan Faludi and Peggy Orenstein had their key books launched by the Sandy Djikstra Literary Agency but are no longer represented by the agency.