By Frank James

This week we learned that Jayson Blair, the one-time New York Times reporter who rocked the "Gray Lady" when it was discovered in 2003 that as a journalist he invented stories wholesale and plagiarized, has re-invented himself as a certified life coach.

Jayson Blair.

Jayson Blair in 2004. (Jennifer Szymaszek / AP Photo)

Blair, 33, has been living quietly in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and working in his current role for two years.

Blair, who reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and has had substance abuse problems, was fortunate to find someone who has given him a second chance despite of his notoriety.

Michael Oberschneider who runs Ashburn Psychological Services in Northern Virginia, threw Blair a lifeline.

An excerpt from an Associated Press story:

"He can relate to patients just beautifully," said Michael Oberschneider, the psychologist who hired Blair and urged him to become a life coach. "Sometimes you just meet people in life who have these electric personalities. Well, Jayson is now using his talents for good."
Oberschneider, director of Ashburn Psychological Services, took an interest in Blair after seeing him lead a support group for people with bipolar disorder that Blair founded in his hometown of Centreville after being diagnosed himself.
Oberschneider said he took a long, hard look at Blair before hiring him, in large part because of his past, which included substance abuse. But he was impressed at the rapport Blair had established with members of the support group.
"Very few people can go through what he did and come back," Oberschneider said. "He really is a success story."

Blair is obviously very fortunate to have found Oberschneider since there aren't many employers who'd take a chance on someone with such an infamous resume. If Blair is going to have a boss, who better than a psychologist with empathy and a professional interest in people with Blair's kind of problems? Not only does Oberschneider seem supportive, he sounds like a big fan.

Blair should have never been a journalist, a self-evident fact. But it appears the disastrous arc of his earlier life has put him on a truer course instead of the life of falsehoods he once lived.

categories: Media

11:59 - August 22, 2009

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