by mike | Jul 9, 2018 | Life, Museums, Non-Fiction, Uncategorized |
“There’s a sucker born every minute,” someone once declared. No, it wasn’t P.T. Barnum, the great showman, as many believe. But Barnum did have a role to play in the story of the Cardiff Giant—the greatest hoax of the nineteenth century. THE PETRIFIED MAN In 1868 a...
by mike | Feb 12, 2018 | Books, Movies, Non-Fiction, Travel, Uncategorized |
In 1981 a young Israeli man, Yossi Ghinsberg, went backpacking around the globe in search of adventure. During a trek through a minimally explored jungle in Bolivia, he found more adventure than he ever bargained for—and it nearly cost him his life. Years later Yossi...
by mike | Feb 1, 2018 | Books, Editing, Humor, Life, Non-Fiction, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
No, I’m not coaching writers anymore, having drifted into a blissful retirement. But I still take a great deal of pride in the accomplishments of my writers, as indicated by this 2014 post. Given my (approaching) dotage I’ve been taking on fewer writers in recent...
by mike | Jan 29, 2018 | Books, Films About Writers, Humor, Life, Movies, Non-Fiction, Publishing, Romance, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing |
In 1996 Frances Mayes, a writer, book reviewer, teacher, and foodie extraordinaire, published a memoir—replete with recipes—called Under the Tuscan Sun. The book spent over two years on the New York Times bestseller list, a remarkable achievement. A romantic...
by mike | Jul 13, 2017 | California, Movies, Native American Films, Native Americans, Non-Fiction, Uncategorized |
I first wrote about this heartbreaking topic in 2013. Sadly, our country’s treatment of Native Americans hasn’t changed much. Does that title offend the living crap out of you? It did me, believe it. I didn’t make it up; it is attributed to a United States Army...
by mike | Apr 17, 2017 | Life, Non-Fiction, Travel, Uncategorized |
Did the newlywed couple drown in the river and get washed out to sea? Were they murdered? Or did aliens abduct them right out of their boat? Nearly ninety years after Bessie and Glen Hyde set off down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, their disappearance...
