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John Berendt's Esquire column shaped his Midnight in the Garden voice

Before the bestseller, Berendt sharpened his observational eye on men's wear and manners in a long-running Esquire column; it was a fashion column that changed American nonfiction.

On air: Hank Ledger on Wake Up, America
Published 5:21 AM ET, Tuesday, October 13, 2026

▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger on this story, from Wake Up, America at 5:21 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.

At a glance

First reported by The New York Times: “John Berendt Honed His Voice for ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ in the Unlikeliest Place”.
Covered on BBN on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 5:21 AM ET on Wake Up, America, by Hank Ledger.

The real story

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The New York TimesJohn Berendt Honed His Voice for ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ in the Unlikeliest Place

What BBN said about it

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorJohn Berendt wrote the classic Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but before that he spent years on a men's wear and manners column at Esquire.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSkip Waverly is outside a men's clothing store with the evidence.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentHank, I'm standing outside a shuttered men's shop at five-twenty in the morning, and the mannequin behind me is wearing a double-breasted jacket that has clearly seen things.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentThis is where a writer learns that a lapel can tell you everything about a man, and that is exactly the eye he took to Savannah.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA lapel.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentAnd the sprinklers just came on, so I'm now dressed for a story about a man who got soaked in the garden. I believe a voice like mine belongs at a desk, Hank.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThanks for that, Skip. Your cuffs are the wrong length.

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