In Richard Ford's "The Sportswriter," the narrator reflects on the impact of an individual writer choosing to stop writing. The sentiment conveyed is that the departure of a single voice in literature may not significantly affect humanity at large. This emphasizes the idea that the literary world is vast, and the absence of one author may go unnoticed by the majority.

Using the metaphor of a tree falling in a forest, Ford suggests that just as the event is inconsequential to those who are not present, so too is the exit of a writer to the broader cultural landscape. It highlights the notion that not all creative contributions leave a lasting mark, and only a select few resonate deeply with society.