Poaching New Yorker Writers… It Takes A Pony.

Here’s a lesson to all you high-powered magazine owners out there: If there’s a writer you really, really want for your magazine… bring their kids ponies.

That’s how Atlantic Monthly owner David Bradley lured Jeffrey Goldberg away from the New Yorker. The WaPo‘s Howard Kurtz reports:

“He’s incredibly persistent and makes you feel like you’re God’s gift to journalism,” says Goldberg, who had turned Bradley down once before. But that was before the horses showed up at his home to entertain his children… As for the ponies, Bradley has a built-in advantage. He was a groom at Meadowbrook Stables in Chevy Chase while growing up and is now one of its chief financial supporters. For Goldberg, the arrival of the horses at his Northwest Washington home was the finishing touch that delighted his three young children. What’s more, Bradley showed up and offered to clean up after the animals.”

Cleaning up after the ponies in order to impress Jeff Goldberg. Now that’s what we’d call dedication. Also noted in Kurtz’s piece: Bradley once flew to Paris just to have dinner with William Langewiesche in a failed list-ditch attempt to keep Langewiesche at the Atlantic.

— Neal Ungerleider

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.