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Dan Penn: A Career Made of Being Where He Doesn't Belong

Amy Linden, The New York Times, 31 July 1994

DAN PENN is propped against a graffiti-covered wall in Harlem. The photographer motions to him and Mr. Penn responds by pushing his sunglasses down and popping a toothpick into his mouth. He's locked in an expression somewhere between small-town hood and big-city cool. Just then a car comes around the corner, and a passenger leans out the window and yells, "Go home, whiteys!" Hearing that, Mr. Penn smiles slightly, his toothpick shifting upward.

Total word count of piece: 1094

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