Travel Back to a Simpler Time When Nic Pizzolatto was a Professor

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A new piece highlights Nic Pizzolatto’s short tenure as a professor at UNC.

All is quiet on the True Detective front as Nic Pizzolatto and HBO mull over the options for making season three a reality. That makes now the perfect time to take a travel back in time to before True Detective existed; back when Nic Pizzolatto was a professor at UNC. Surely bearing the world’s grudges on his shoulder.

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A new piece at The Daily Tar Heel highlight’s Nic Pizzolatto’s time shaping young minds. In email correspondence with the media outlet, Pizzolatto wrote fondly about his time at UNC, calling it “one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people.” High praise indeed.

The incredibly named Bland Simpson chimed in about Pizzolatto, remarking that “he was a fantastic short story writer. I remember pretty vividly that he had this cool intensity…” that fits well with the vision of Nic Pizzolatto that we have today as creator of True Detective. Especially if one considers each season of True Detective as a series of self-contained novellas.

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The painting of Pizzolatto that comes through here is that of a confident writer trying to get by. He partially paints himself that way, saying that his time there was born out of necessity:

"“The decision was motivated plainly by the need to make a living. I didn’t have the means or the ability to make a living writing, no contacts in any industries, and I was lucky to get the visiting job at UNC.”"

At the end of the day teaching wasn’t for him, and it wasn’t something that never intended to do for any great length of time:

"“I liked working with students, but the bureaucracy and politics never interested me. I was a waiter longer than I was a teacher, and I’ve made a living as a writer and producer longer than I was a teacher.”"

Next: Rachel McAdams is excited for Doctor Strange.

It’s an interesting read, especially if you’re interested in Nic Pizzolatto before his time with HBO. You can head over to The Daily Tar Heel to read the entire article.