At the bottom of the New York Times front page today we have a bit about bullying. A high school student, Billy Wolfe, is beaten on a regular basis.

Dan Barry, a masterful story teller, spins out an more-than-sufficient description in the introduction to the first beat down scene:

"All lank and bone, the boy stands at the corner with his younger sister, waiting for the yellow bus that takes them to their respective schools. He is Billy Wolfe, high school sophomore, struggling.

"Moments earlier he left the sanctuary that is his home, passing those framed photographs of himself as a carefree child, back when he was 5. And now he is at the bus stop, wearing a baseball cap, vulnerable at 15.

"A car the color of a school bus pulls up with a boy who tells his brother beside him that he's going to beat up Billy Wolfe. While one records the assault with a cellphone camera, the other walks up to the oblivious Billy ..."

We will stop there. See how Barry builds up the tension in first person. This is not an article in need of a nut graf to start off with. Barry's column, "This Land," seems to be more about compassion, not boilerplate leads. Of course he does nut it up to allow to realize how widespread the problem is and how these school officials "are so reluctant to punish bullies and report assaults to the police."

It goes on to tell the story from the beginning, chronologically, the history of his bully problems. Take notice of a device Barry uses "Heh-heh." That's part of the writer's voice.

The narrative storytelling becomes kind of static near the end. But the vivid descriptions, attention to nuances oft ignored, discerning eye for metaphor/meaning and sense of structure are Dan Barry lessons we can all learn from.