Pop Culture
PASSION ALWAYS WINS: How Lenny Horowitz Helped Transform Me and Miami’s South Beach Almost Fifty Years Ago
It was 1977. I didn’t think Barbara Capitman and Lenny Horowitz could throw a tea party much less transform the decrepit lower end of Miami Beach into the “Riviera of the South.” Through my flippant 21-year-old eyes it was where hippies went to score pot, the downtrodden bet on greyhounds, and old people…
Read MoreQ&A: Jill McCorkle on dolls, dollhouses, tiny objects and what they have to do with writing and life
“I have always loved dolls. And yes, there are still within the love, those that have creeped me out!” – Jill McCorkle Jill McCorkle is a bestselling, award-winning author of unforgettable novels and short stories. She was a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction at Harvard, where she also chaired the department of creative writing.…
Read MoreDAMAGE CONTROL: When A Video of Someone You Know Goes Viral (in a bad way)
It was bound to happen. Someone I knew and consider to be a nice person behaved badly, a bystander made a video, it went viral, this person lost their job and now must mentally wear the scarlet letters IPH (Internet Public Hanging). I don’t want to leave a clue to their identity by saying “he”…
Read MoreCHUCK BERRY, AUTHOR: takes out the trash and dishes it, too
I confess, I probably wouldn’t have read Chuck Berry’s autobiography had I not seen Bob Dylan reading it backstage. I immediately bought it and devoured it. Not long after, Berry played a club in New York City and I was asked to introduce him onstage as part of my DJ duties as “The Rock and…
Read MoreBehind NAKED DJ, the audiobook
I’m thrilled Rachel Butera has been nominated for a SOVAS Voice Arts Awards for her narration of NAKED DJ, as have I for my narration of WHEN I MARRIED MY MOTHER. Known as “The Oscars of Voice Acting” it’s indeed an honor. The awards ceremony is Nov 13, 2016 at the Warner Brothers Studio…
Read MoreQ&A: Daniel De Vise on Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Mayberry misfits and affairs, and unusual gifts from fans
On behalf of all of The Andy Griffith Show fans, I’d like to thank Daniel de Visé for writing Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show. It’s extremely well-researched and includes 35 great photographs. Not a surprise given all the awards (including a Pulitzer) de Visé has earned.…
Read MoreQ&A: Candace Bushnell on KILLING MONICA, what Hollywood needs to do, privacy, reinvention, Mom, and more
Photo by Marion Ettinger It’s indeed a pleasure to welcome Candace Bushnell to my ongoing author Q&As. Ms. Bushnell, of Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle and The Carrie Diaries fame, talked to me about her new novel Killing Monica (Grand Central Publishing, 2015). Killing Monica is classic…
Read MoreCASEY KASEM: His End-of-life Family Drama and Avoiding Something Similar Yourself
In 1997, I was honored to present a prestigious radio industry award to one of my heroes in the business, Casey Kasem. The sordid drama that has unfolded recently around his death made headlines around the world. As author of a memoir about caring for my mother at the end of her life, I’ve become…
Read MoreSHIRLEY TEMPLE: The girl, the woman, the dolls
I’ve now been in the doll adoption business about 18 months. If I had to pick the one doll with the most universal, indestructible appeal, it would be Shirley Temple in all her various sizes and outfits. Barbie is too polarizing. Madame Alexander dolls too prissy. No one dislikes Shirley Temple. She appeals to a…
Read MoreCUTE OR CREEPY? Mama Jo’s House of Dolls Captivates Media
Do you think dolls are cute or creepy? Most people fall in one camp or the other. Yet every culture has dolls. Why? My theory is they go back to when a cave woman made one to amuse her kid while she rubbed two sticks together to make a fire. Or perhaps she lost a…
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