Gay Talese is an Atlantic Wire media diet subject, a shoeshine connoisseur, and one of the living legends of American journalism. He is not, however, acquainted with any good-looking midgets.

Talese acknowledged this in an interview with AOL Autos associate editor Ross Kenneth Urken. They were talking about cars, specifically Talese's 1957 Triumph TR3, which the author says loves, and admits is "almost as important to me as my wife," publisher Nan Talese.

"One time," he tells Urken, "I parked it outside of Elaine's. Somebody bumped the damn thing. I was so angry...I had a scissor jack in the back of my little car. I opened the trunk, got the scissor jack and I banged the fender of the damn station wagon."

About the only downside to the 54-year automobile is the tiny backseat, which according to Talese makes necking difficult. "Unless you're with a midget," he notes. "Now there are midgets that are attractive. But I never met one." We found a photo of a '57 TR3 (not Talese's) that bears out his claim.

If Talese needs the extra space, he should get in touch with Sir Harry Evans, who earlier told Urken he's planning to drive off into the sunset with wife Tina Brown in a car with a bed in the backseat.

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Ray Gustini