Today's Guest: Jerry Scott, Jim Borgman, Rick Kirkman, comic strip co-creators, "Zits," "Baby Blues" Not too surprisingly, when my son Charlie was born, it didn’t take long for me to see the humor in the “Baby Blues” comic strip by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott. It was so relatable! And when Charlie hit 6 or 7,... Continue Reading →
John Darnton leaves NYT, turns Black, White, Dead All Over! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: John Darnton, ex-New York Times reporter, novelist, Black and White and Dead All Over The great pleasure of being a novelist is that you can praise your friends and carve up your enemies by changing a few names and details to protect the innocent and fend off the guilty and, at the... Continue Reading →
Ed Droste: The rise of the Original Hooters, um, wings! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Ed Droste, co-founders, Hooters Restaurants The first contact I ever had with Ed Droste was when I spotted the wreck of a boat on the north side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Clearwater, Florida. I had seen the wreck before, but this time, someone had painted “Hooters” on the hull in... Continue Reading →
America At Home? Smile for photographer Rick Smolan, please! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Rick Smolan, photographer, America At Home: A Close-Up Look at How We Live I love great photographs. Over my desk, I have a black and white Florida Everglades print by Clyde Butcher that never gets old. When my eyes start glazing over from the computer, I like to switch my gaze to... Continue Reading →
Cartoonist Charlos Gary likes his Cafe Con Leche hot! INTERVIEW
The only thing tougher than being a black man trying to hail a cab in Manhattan might be being a black man trying to sell a comic strip into a daily newspaper that already has a strip created by an African-American cartoonist. Charlos Gary knows how tough it is – he’s the man behind... Continue Reading →
Scott Miles dreams, stars in, his own Little Chicago! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Scott Miles, actor, Little Chicago There’s a certain risk – some might call it insanity – to producing true indie films. They’re costly, especially relative to the return on investment, time, and aggravation. But still they get made. Scott Miles made his. It’s called Little Chicago, and it's about a young man... Continue Reading →
Politifact editor Bill Adair tunes up the Truth-O-Meter! INTERVIEW
If you wanted to pick a good presidential campaign upon which to launch a political web site devoted to truth, justice, and the American Way – and those are my words, not theirs – this would be the one. You’ve got a man running as the candidate of one party who was in Vietnamese... Continue Reading →
Novelist James Sheehan gets The Law of Second Chances! PODCAST INTERVIEW
I met James Sheehan at a St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading event back in 2005. I was there promoting my new biography of Will Eisner and he was riding a wave of excellent reviews for his first novel, The Mayor of Lexington Avenue. As we got talking, however, we realized we had met... Continue Reading →
Miami lawyer James Grippando on his debut novel, The Pardon! INTERVIEW
Originally published in Pinellas County Review, January 1995 Lawyers. Write one story for the college law review and for the rest of their careers they plan to write the Great American Novel. And for every one who finally gives up that dream, along comes a Scott Turow or John Grisham to inspire another generation of... Continue Reading →
94 David Andelman on A Shattered Peace–was WWII preventable? PODCAST INTERVIEW
David Andelman and I have been connected via the internet for the last few years. I frequently receive emails from people who remember me from CBS News or The New York Times, who want to reconnect via Facebook or network through LinkedIn. Unfortunately, I never worked for CBS News or The New York Times. And... Continue Reading →