He could be intimidated by you If he likes you it could be making him nervous. The reason he's so comfortable with everyone else is that he has no attraction to them, so he doesn't feel any risk by talking to them Try being friendly and striking up a conversation with him yourself instead of waiting for him to approach you. Sometimes a little encouragement is all a person needs.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.