personality profile example

I read a personality profile from the LA Times titled, “Upholding the Letter of the Law: 28 Years in Court.

Lead: “Christine Olson vividly remembers the day in court 16 years ago when Richard Ramirez, on trial for 13 counts of murder, looked lavishly at her feet and licked his lips.”

I think that this story has a multi paragraph lead. The rest of the lead reads,
“’You’re sick,’ the court reporter mouthed at the man called the Night Stalker, now on California’s death row.”

“Not all Olson’s memories from nearly three decades as an employer of the Los Angeles County court system are sick, though. During the Ramirez trial, the 55-year old San Diego native met her husband-to-be, a bailiff assigned to security duty for the defendant.”

I think this lead is an example of the individual in a dramatic moment because it sets the scene of her in the middle of a trial of a killer.

The main point of the story is that Olson is retiring after 28 years of work as a court reporter. This information appears in the nut graf, which is the fourth paragraph.

“With many farewell wishes, Olson retired after 28 years of being a fly on the wall at some of Los Angeles County’s most infamous criminal trials.”

The author makes good use of setting the scenes. Olson has been present at some big court room settings such as the Night Stalker, the Rodney King beating and the O.J. Simpson trial. He illustrates her career and how she got there. He spends a little time touching upon what Olson will be doing after retirement. The author also uses a lot of quotes from Olson, which added to the story.

The author does not present Olson in a physical sense like her appearance, but he did capture her personality through the use of quotes.

Link: www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-olson18apr18,1,3959743.story?ctrack=1&cset=true