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I loved these essays. They're insightful and appreciative and beautifully bridge the old with the new.
--- T.Jefferson Parker, Author of “California Girl” and “The Jaguar”
Bob Vickrey writes a love letter to the world of publishing that seems to have been lost forever. Bob was a book rep of the first order, and like me, he was in it because he loved books and literature. Our time is passed, but oh lordy, there was glory then. This is a terrific collection of stories.
-- Pat Conroy, Author of "The Prince of Tides" and "The Great Santini"
ABOUT BOB VICKREY
Bob Vickrey is a writer whose columns appear in several Southwestern newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. He is a member of the Board of Contributors for the Waco Tribune-Herald and is a regular contributor to the Boryana Books website. His columns have appeared in the online editions of USA Today, The Dallas Morning News, and the New York Post.
Vickrey was born in Houston and attended San Jacinto College and Baylor University. He studied journalism at Baylor and was sports editor of the Baylor Lariat. After college years, he did freelance work with several newspapers including the Waco Tribune-Herald and the Houston Post.
He spent the majority of his working life in the book publishing business with Houghton Mifflin Company. While based in Texas and Southern California during those years, he worked in the sales and marketing department in the promotion of books by literary figures, newsmakers, and politicians.
During his tenure at Houghton Mifflin he helped market and promote emerging literary stars of the time like Pat Conroy, Ethan Canin, and Paul Theroux. He did promotional tours with Conroy on some of his early work including The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides.
Vickrey actively promoted the works of National Book Award winners: Tim O’Brien, Jerzy Kosinski, James Carroll, and Robert Stone. He accompanied a variety of authors on promotional tours including: President Jimmy Carter, (then Senator) Al Gore, humorist Calvin Trillin, Dr. Andrew Weil, boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, and astronaut Jim Lovell.
He retired from book publishing in 2008, and resurrected his writing career shortly afterward. He was cited by the California Newspaper Publishing Association for column writing awards in 2016 and 2017. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California.
By God, the old man could handle a spade
Just like his old man
Between my fingers and thumb
The squat pen rests
I'll dig with it.
--Seamus Heaney--
1939-2013
SEARCHING FOR AN ESCAPE FROM THE HOUSEBOUND LIFE
I find it comforting that the lockdown order is no longer referred to as “shelter in place,” and is now simply designated as “stay at home.”
Staying at home sounds... More...
“845 VIA GANG” CREATED LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS
Back in the 1980s, if you drove past the rather lackluster storefront of All-Pro Health Foods at 845 Via de la Paz, you would have likely never guessed the creative work that was originating from the small maze of offices located just above the... More...
A SEPT. TO REMEMBER AT PALI VILLAGE
Free Martinis, Mom's Stroller Races, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
As the first anniversary of Palisades Village rolls around next month, I thought I’d make a few suggestions for possible events to celebrate this... More...
THE ENDLESS PULL OF HOMETOWN MEMORIES
My friend Gary drove slowly up 10th Street past my old family home until we reached the end of the block. “Look, isn’t that corner house on the... More...
BOB AND BLAKE'S EXCELLENT REAL ESTATE ADVENTURE
My phone hasn’t stopped ringing in recent days. It seems the mansion I own in the Palisades Riviera with former LA Clipper star Blake Griffin has been taken off the market once again, and realtors are calling non-stop trying to secure the listing... More...
NEXTDOOR PLEASANTVILLE: WE'RE BACK AND MEANER THAN EVER
Anyone else tired of hearing all the motorcycle noise on Sunset at night. I’m forming a vigilante group... More...
A 40-YEAR MOVEABLE BREAKFAST FEAST
I’ve always been a fairly easy guy to find on most mornings in the Palisades village. Just peek in the door of my favorite local breakfast spot, and I’ll be there sipping coffee while reading my newspaper and awaiting my scrambled eggs.
Gourmet Gala on Antioch Street was one of those... More...
TIME FOR OUR TOWN TO BUILD ITS OWN WALL
After reading the latest crime report in our local paper, I’m calling upon the citizens of my hometown in Southern California to come together and build a wall around our town... More...
ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN CARUSO'S “PLEASANTVILLE”
When initial plans were unveiled for Rick Caruso’s Palisades Village Project, I wasn’t entirely sure whether my Monument Street bungalow would one day overlook a quaint, friendly Nantucket-like setting, or quite possibly be perched above our own version of the open-air street market in downtown Jakarta... More...
MY CONFUSING NEWFOUND STATUS OF WEALTH AND AFFLUENCE
The recent Los Angeles Times business section story that described our town using words like “exclusive,” “affluent” and “wealthy,” had me wondering if I was reading about the same Pacific Palisades where I’ve lived for years.
The story was ostensibly about the opening of the new... More...
MY FRONT YARD CARUSO VILLAGE GALA PARTY
Last Thursday evening I discovered that Palisades Village developer Rick Caruso is a very accommodating guy. He must have known that I’ve become somewhat of a hermit in recent years and rarely travel east of Bundy Drive, so he decided to have his Grand Opening Gala in my front yard—which is only a slight exaggeration.
My house on Monument Street sits near the intersection of... More...
THE SANDLOT GAMES OF AUGUST
Many years ago, and far away from the bright lights of packed football stadiums filled with cheering fans, there was another annual ritual playing out more quietly on sandlots in just about every Texas town across... More...
ELUDING MY NEMESIS: JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH
Upon entering the Presidential Suite of the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I was immediately struck by the imposing figure of... More...
IS AMAZON BOOKSTORE THE NEW RETAIL MODEL?
Now let me get this straight; the corporate giant that virtually transformed modern bookselling into an online industry and drove hundreds of independent bookstores out of business—including our own Village Books—is now... More...
A Writer's Mosaic- A Life in Stories
A Google search provided this collage of many subjects of recent columns
Lunch club "deal makers" at the Polo Lounge
Veronica Flores-Paniagua, Houston Chronicle Outlook Editor
Irian "Vick" Vickrey, the subject of my Houston Chronicle
column: Looking Back: Reflections of my Father
My pal Tony Verna, Director and Television Innovator in the Control Room
1985 Book Tour with President Jimmy Carter
Baylor Professor David McHam -1967-
Diana Serra Cary - Vista Theater Hollywood -2005-
Dennis Wills of D.G. Wills Books
Kathy Zuckerman -aka- Gidget
Vicki Whicker - Central NY Country Girl
Michael Harrison & I aboard Queen Mary @ SCIBA Dinner -1987-
Brenda Bartlett- Pacific Palisades -2002-
Writer Ben Masselink @ Prince of Tides Party - LA -1986-
With Don Galias (L) & Alan Eisenstock @ Village Bks Party
Lionel Rolfe, author & Founder of Boryana Books
Katie O'Laughlin (& daughter Elizabeth) Open Village Bks -1997-
John Cole's Bookshop - LaJolla, California
My elegant editor Sandra Sanchez, formerly with the Tribune-Herald
Post WWII Galena Park High School cheerleaders perfectly captured the era I wrote about in my Houston Chronicle story: "A Life Shaped by Early Suburbia"
With Carolyn Bundick Hays on the dance floor at our 30th reunion. Carolyn was the subject of "This Homecoming Memory Came with a Big Price Tag."
Jonathan Galassi of Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
Larry McMurtry @ Booked Up in Archer City, Texas
Allison Hill, President of Vroman's Bookstore & Book Soup
THE NIGHT THE LITERARY STARS FELL INTO ALIGNMENT
Word had spread quickly that a formal dinner scheduled at the Brunswick Hotel in Boston would bring together some of the greatest American literary figures of the day under one... More...
SWAPPING STATE DINNERS FOR TV DINNERS
Actress Meryl Streep’s skillful portrayal of the great gourmet chef Julia Child in the 2009 movie “Julie and Julia” prompted a vivid memory of my first meeting with Southwest cooking legend Helen Corbitt.
In the early 1970’s I traveled to Dallas as a publisher’s representative for a luncheon with Helen and Stanley Marcus, President of Neiman Marcus, to arrange a book signing party... More...
A SON'S LONG JOURNEY TO HEAL WARTIME MEMORIES
Houston Chronicle
A tall, handsome American man knelt in the misting rain with his head bowed in front of a small marble cross in an immense field of grave sites arranged on vast acres of manicured grounds.
He had come to the only spot on earth that might offer a long-sought resolution to his attempt to make peace with the father he had never known.
Rows of pines and majestic olive trees on the outer edges of the city of Nettuno, Italy, added to the stately... More...
A LAMENTATION ON THE DEMISE OF BOOKS AND OTHER ARTIFACTS
Houston Chronicle
Please let my tombstone read: "I'll give up my book when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" (accompanied by my necessary apologies to... More.
MIKE HARTMAN: THE REAL LIFE OSCAR MADISON?
At a recent informal memorial service for former Palisadian Mike Hartman, which was held on the grounds of the Palisades Recreation Center, one young man described Mike’s wardrobe when they first met.
“Mr. Hartman was wearing an ill-fitting dark suit with pants sagging well below his waistline. His white shirt was tucked into one side of his pants... More...
WHO CAME UP WITH THE RETIREMENT SLOGAN “GOLDEN YEARS?”
As I took my morning walk recently, I looked up to see a friend coming my way. He flashed a big grin as he approached with a welcoming greeting, “I would know that walk anywhere.”
I knew immediately what... More...
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS OF WORDS
After beginning my working life as a journalist, I took a mere four-decade detour in the book publishing business and have now come full circle in my meandering career by becoming a columnist for several Southwestern newspapers.
When my college journalism professor spotted one of my earliest columns in the Houston Chronicle, he wrote me a message that simply... More...
IN PRAISE OF A BIGHEARTED FRIEND
My next-door neighbor Scott is simply a force of nature.
He uses his relentless and tireless energy by helping people who are in trouble. I’m only a spectator who sits back in amazement as I observe his daily rescues of those who are in need... More...
THE ARTHUR ASHE EFFECT
I followed the Moody Coliseum usher down the aisle until we reached my seat on row two, which was directly behind the tennis court linesman and near where Arthur Ashe and Bjorn Borg sat while awaiting the start of their... More...
TOTO, THAT HOLLYWOOD SIGN TELLS ME WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
When I took my seat at the head table directly across from the famous screen legend, I was surprised... More...
RECLAIMING MY MUSICAL ROOTS:
Confessions of a Country Music Denier
Since I was a product of the 1960s, I could blame just about everything in my youth on the influence of the “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” generation.
So it is no wonder that I had turned my back on the country music of my Texas upbringing and suddenly found that The Rolling Stones and The Doors had a more compelling and sexier appeal than Dave Dudley’s “Six Days on the Road.”
But back in the day... More...
AMERICAN GRAFFITI: GALENA PARK HIGH SCHOOL VERSION
While George Lucas' classic film from 1973 told the story of young people growing up in Modesto, California, many of us from Southeast Texas in the town of Galena Park were living out our own version of "American Graffiti"in the... More...
VIEWPOINT: WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE ASK ME WHAT I’M READING!
My late writer friend Josh Greenfeld once said he couldn’t remember the last time someone asked him what he was reading.
He bemoaned the fact that in our present culture the question had become, “What have you seen lately?” Since Greenfeld was both a successful... More...
LOOKING FOR MEALS IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
The author and satirist Fran Lebowitz once said “I would eat at home more often but there’s no food there.”
In recent years... More...
FLYING HIGH WITH THE RED-HEADED STRANGER
Many years ago while boarding a crowded late-night flight leaving Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I spotted a familiar face as I passed through the first class cabin.
She averted my eye for a moment and then looked back at me as I asked, “Connie, is that you?” We hadn’t seen one another since high school days, so I felt it necessary to identify myself as her classmate back in... More...
REVISITING MY OWN “WONDER YEARS” MOMENT
There was something undeniably compelling about the television show “The Wonder Years” that ran from the late 1980s into the early ‘90s.
The show was set in a middle-class neighborhood against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960s, although twelve year-old Kevin Arnold and his pals were more interested in sports and their suddenly changing awareness of the opposite sex... More...
DISCOVERING A NOVEL THAT HELPED DEFINE MY LOVE OF BOOKS
Avid readers share a major character flaw in the way we romanticize the world of books.
We’re almost like evangelicals who have just discovered religion and feel compelled to spread its message. In similar fashion, we feel obliged to share the news about the latest exciting new book we’ve just finished. While we do ask for your indulgence, you must be forewarned—there is no known cure for... More...
THE DAY FANTASY COLLIDED HEAD-ON WITH REALITY
Once while sitting in the back corner of a small café in our village, a tall shapely woman approached my table with a smile that I recognized immediately. She said “Kris told me I’d find you here.”
She wore a pair of faded jeans and a loose-fitting blue sweater. She placed her cappuccino on the table and took a seat in the chair directly in front of me, and then sheepishly asked, “May I?”
We had recently been introduced by our mutual friend who... More...
FINDING NOVELTY IN THE LIFESTYLE OF OUR TOWN’S JAY GATSBY
As I walked through our village center the other day, I couldn’t help but notice a distinguished-looking, well-dressed gentleman holding court on the patio at Hank’s restaurant on... More...
SEARCHING FOR THE MYSTERIOUS ‘JULIE B.’ IN PACIFIC PALISADES
The letter writer began her tribute to her favorite author with these words: “I am someone who fell in love with Pat Conroy almost 30 years ago. It started with ‘The Prince of Tides,’ and the love affair continued, as it still does to this day.”
She continued: “Reading his novels was like coming home, conversing with a loved one who lived my life… and knew.” Her intriguing message that appeared on the Pat Conroy Literary... More...
A REVERED LITERARY LION STILL ROARS IN TEXAS
The list of Texans that have spent their writing lives chronicling their roots is rather long and impressive, and includes names like Dobie, Webb and Graves.
For many years, J. Frank Dobie was considered the preeminent voice of Texas and Southwestern culture. Walter Prescott Webb was the esteemed historian whose books put the American West in a broader national and international perspective.
John Graves evoked the... More...
A LIFE SHAPED BY THE GREAT SUBURBAN EXPERIMENT
I remember back in the 1970s how much I enjoyed humming along with Paul Simon’s captivating ballad “My Little Town,” until it dawned on me that... More...
OLYMPIAN BOBBY MORROW’S PASSING STIRS MEMORIES OF BOYHOOD HEROES
I grew up in Texas in a family of track and field stars, so it was only natural for this twelve-year old boy to become enamored with Olympic champion sprinter Bobby Morrow, who became the “Golden Boy” of his sport during the Eisenhower era.
Morrow won three gold medals in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, and soon became... More...
WHO ARE ALL THESE MASKED STRANGERS THAT KEEP GREETING ME?
As I walked through the village toward Erewhon Market last week, several appropriately masked townspeople greeted me by name, but I’m quite sure that based on my feeble response, I fooled absolutely no one after failing to recognize any of them.
“And how is everybody at home?” I replied to one masked stranger who shot me a quizzical look as we passed on the sidewalk. I’m afraid that I might have misrepresented his present status regarding... More...
THIS BOOKSELLING CAPER STIRS ECHOES OF PHILIP MARLOWE
During my long career in book publishing, I was often accused by sales managers of enhancing my weekly marketing reports with excessive details.
One manager, in particular... More...
LIVING THROUGH OUR OWN “GROUNDHOG DAY” SEQUEL
We have suddenly found ourselves caught in a time-loop and are now unwittingly living the same day over-and-over again, just like poor Bill Murray did in the movie “Groundhog Day.”
While practicing this new “sheltering in place” routine from my home bunker, I’m having a hard time distinguishing one day from another. I had once considered my earlier life rather boring before all this. But today by comparison, I feel like I was living the exotic life of... More...
GOD, MOSES AND KENNY TURAN
After reading CTN’s story of Kenny Turan’s retirement from his post as senior film critic at the LA Times, I was reminded of a couple of spontaneous meetings at Dutton’s Brentwood Books... More...
EATING YOUR WAY THROUGH OUR “ITALIANO” VILLAGE
Pacific Palisades has long been known for having an abundance of Italian restaurants, but with recent announcements of yet two new openings, the bounds of credibility are becoming strained as to how... More...
MY QUESTION FOR COSTCO: “WHAT ABOUT BOB?”
Recently, I have been feeling left out of all the fun that my friends with families are having when they make their weekly pilgrimages to our... More...
ARNIE WISHNICK: PACIFIC PALISADES PEOPLE’S MAYOR
A few weeks ago, I ran into someone in the Palisades Village whom I had met last year at our local Chamber of Commerce office, and made the naïve mistake of introducing myself as a friend of Arnie Wishnick, who until recent months had been the longtime executive director of the Chamber. He looked at me with a skeptical grin and said, “Well, now that certainly narrows it down.”
The guy was right. Since Arnie, in his role at the Chamber, was... More...
SIDESTEPPING HISTORY AT THE IVY
Los Angeles has to be the only city in the world where a 35 year-old restaurant could be described as a “landmark” institution.
I’m reminded of... More...
ROBERT F. KENNEDY’S ASSASSINATION: THE MORNING AFTER
For many of us of a certain age, the year 1968 was a year like no other... More...
THE PERILOUS SAGA OF A BOOK PUBLISHING VETERAN
Houston Chronicle
As I reported for my first day of work in October 1972, and entered the creaky Boston office headquarters of America's oldest publishing house, I thought perhaps that I had stepped... More...
STALKED AGAIN BY SINATRA’S LEGACY AT MATTEO’S
During our ongoing three-year tour of famous Los Angeles restaurants, our monthly lunch club has often encountered difficulty escaping Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack’s shadow... More...
MY LIFELONG AFFAIR WITH NEWSPAPERS
Boryana Books
Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times has become a trusted friend in recent years, although we’ve never actually met. Reading his funny and... More...
STEPPING BACK IN TIME AT RAE’S DINER
You’ve driven by it numerous times on Pico Boulevard, but like most Westsiders, you’ve probably never considered stopping for a meal at this old-fashioned diner.
Rae’s Restaurant has been around since the days when you could actually find a parking spot in... More...
STEPPING UPTOWN AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA
During the closing credits of many television variety shows of the 1950’s and ‘60’s, the off-camera announcer would routinely remind viewers, “Hotel accommodations for... More...
THE DAY I BECAME MY FATHER
After paying the tab at a local café and noticing my burger and fries came to an astonishing $17.50, I found myself mumbling to no one in particular, “I remember when hamburgers cost fifty cents.”
It was meant as a seemingly innocent comment about today’s rising cost of living, but instead, I heard echoes of my dad’s voice uttering a... More...
FORMER VILLAGE LANDMARK DEFINED A LOST ERA
When I first walked into the Palisades Drugstore Café almost forty years ago, I thought I had stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting.
Jeff Kool, the longtime owner... More...
REVELING IN THE NIGHT LIFE AT DAN TANA’S
Singer Ray Price once sang “The night life ain’t no good life, but it’s my life,” and it certainly appears that our monthly lunch club has adopted his famous motto in recent months... More...
LUNCH CLUB: AFTER DARK AT THE GALLEY
After living in L.A. for almost 40 years, I find myself constantly reminded that we live in the shadow of the Hollywood sign.
Such was the case recently while watching a television rerun of... More...
CHIDED BY JONATHAN GOLD'S RESTAURANT LIST
Each year when Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold releases his list of “101 Best Restaurants” in Southern California, I realize that I may need to get out more often.
I’ve been to only a half-dozen restaurants that Gold chose for... More...
TO LIVE AND DRIVE IN LA
I knew this day would eventually arrive that would require a dreaded in-person visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles—a premise that... More...
LUNCH CLUB’S SNEAK PREVIEW OF MADEO
Our monthly lunch club decided to check out Madeo Italian Restaurant in West Hollywood after it was announced that our town will have its own branch of the famous trattoria when... More...
THE SPIRIT OF THE CITY SHINES AFTER HARVEY
Houston Chronicle
In recent years, we've watched natural disasters unfold in cities across the country that... More...
ESCAPING THE RAT PACK AT EL COYOTE
It seems that just about every legendary Los Angles restaurant our... More...
LUNCH CLUB BRINGS ALONG A PROFESSOR
The recent reopening of The Proud Bird Restaurant on Aviation Boulevard near LAX offered a different kind of experience for our monthly lunch group with its reimagined “Food Bazaar” and interactive aviation exhibits... More...
DODGERS’ MANIA HOOKS A RELUCTANT FAN
The Dodgers were down 4-1 to the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the ninth inning with no outs and no one on base. That ominous situation... More...
DINAH’S EVOKES DINER MEMORIES OF YESTERYEAR
Entering Dinah’s Restaurant brought back youthful memories of my hometown diner where I hung out with friends and routinely argued about how much each of us owed after the... More...
GET ME TO THE CHURCH ON TIME
The only problem I encountered on that Fourth was that no one answered the door when I arrived to pick Raitt up at his house on Napoli Drive in the Palisades Riviera. I glanced at my watch and realized I had allowed little time for a glitch in our plan... More...
LUNCH CLUB SPICES THINGS UP AT TALPA
Our monthly lunch club group may occasionally act like giddy teenagers during our get-togethers, but a couple of our companions’ recent medical woes have become a painful reminder that we are now far removed... More...
THE DAUNTING PERILS OF THE WRITING TRADE
Upon returning to the writing life as a newspaper columnist several years ago after a mere 40-year career detour in the book publishing business, I was reminded of the precarious journey a writer faces from their public exposure.
One of the first columns I wrote after my return was published in my hometown paper back in Texas as I attempted to capture the essence of growing up in post-WWII suburbia. The piece received prominent positioning on the op/ed page of the Sunday edition... More...
‘SOPRANOS’ WANNABES VISIT CARMINE’S RESTAURANT
The atmosphere at Carmine’s restaurant in West Los Angeles was so authentically old-world Italian that one would have thought our lunch club group had just taken an exit off the... More...
PALISADES NEWS WRITERS WIN AWARDS
The California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) held its annual Press Summit in Santa Monica May 18-20, with guest speakers that included Leon Panetta, who served as CIA Director and Defense Secretary in the Obama Administration. Visit cnpa.com for more information.
Additionally, the CNPA handed out awards to top newspapers and journalists who competed in the annual Better Newspapers Contest... More...
WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THESE EARLY-BIRD DINNERS?
I’m trying to remember exactly when my friends all began having dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon. It has... More...
THE LOBSTER: NINETY-FOUR YEARS AND COUNTING
It may not look like the “Seafood Shack” of old, but the latest version of the old landmark at the beach still offers that same breathtaking 180-degree view of the crystal-blue Pacific.
Our monthly lunch group decided it was time for some seafood, so The Lobster, located adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier since 1923, was an easy choice. The old seafood house has gone through several incarnations during its 94 years, and the latest upgrade... More...
UNCOVERING DU-PAR’S’ PANCAKE SECRETS
Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery employees take their pancake preparation so seriously that they seem to consider pancakes as their own... More...
THE WRITER WHO TURNED HIS LOVE OF LANGUAGE INTO OSCAR GOLD
Writer Robert Pirosh wrote what is likely the gold standard of resumes in 1934 when he penned a letter to... More...
LUNCH CLUB WELCOMES A NEW MEMBER
In the last couple of years since our monthly lunch club began visiting some of Southern California’s most famous and historic restaurants, we’ve been pressured by many friends who... More...
LUNCH CLUB DEVELOPS A CASE OF SPITFIRE GRILL ENVY
From the moment our monthly lunch club entered the Spitfire Grill restaurant in Santa Monica, I began envisioning a place like this in... More...
IN MEMORIAM: DAVE DUTTON
Publishers Weekly
One of Southern California's most famous and respected booksellers, Dave Dutton, the former owner of Dutton's Books in North Hollywood... More...
CLIMBING ABOARD THE PACIFIC DINING CAR
Our monthly lunch club members decided that we had stepped back in time as we entered the time-honored Pacific Dining Car at the western edge of downtown Los Angeles.
You won’t find... More...
BEWARE: THE WALKING DEAD ARE AMONG US
The Walking Dead is no longer just television fiction. The real life version that walks among us every day is far more frightening... More...
SINGING THE ROADHOUSE BLUES AT BARNEY’S BEANERY
Say it ain’t so West Hollywood! We’re told the venerable Barney’s Beanery restaurant is going to be displaced soon by a new upscale hotel.
The developers there... More...
WANTED: COLLEGE DORM ROOM WITH A VIEW AND ROOM SERVICE
When my 18-year-old niece Olivia told me in April she would be enrolling this fall at Pepperdine University in Malibu, I was excited that I’d finally have some family living near me on the West Coast.
Nashville born-and-raised Olivia has always exhibited a spirit of adventure and had told her parents that she preferred attending Pepperdine or the University of Hawaii to one of the southern schools where most of her... More...
THOMAS STEINBECK: LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND
When I picked up the morning paper recently and read about the death of Thomas Steinbeck, I was taken aback after having received a message from him only a couple of months earlier.
Even though I had never met the eldest son of Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck, I remember flinching involuntarily when a message from Thom popped up on my computer screen. In today’s world of social media where we all seem to be somehow connected... More...
TAKING A BREAK FROM HISTORY FOR SOME GOOD FOOD
In the interest of serving mankind and reporting on our monthly lunch club adventures by touring Southern California’s most legendary restaurants, we have occasionally... More...
A COLLEGE FIELD TRIP THAT LED TO A LITERARY TREASURE
As most former Baylor journalism students who studied under David McHam know, he was never your typical college professor. He was known for his unconventional teaching methods during his celebrated 54-year career at four Texas universities.
During a current events pop quiz in one of his journalism classes, he once asked the correct spelling of “Vickrey” (the name of the school newspaper’s sports editor) and then looked toward the back of the room in my direction and shouted... More...
UNINTENTIONAL SLAPSTICK AT THE HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT
It happened just about the same time as our waiter was asked by several young tourists at the adjoining booth, “Can you tell us where we could find this Hollywood sign that everybody’s... More...
LOOKING BACK: REFLECTIONS OF MY FATHER
Houston Chronicle
Everyone always knew where they could find my father. Most days he could be found in the backyard leaning on his garden hoe in a relaxed... More...
“THE GEORGIAN” ON MY MIND
I doubt if Ray Charles had The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica on his mind when he recorded his classic hit song in 1960, but I found myself humming his famous tune as our monthly lunch group made its way through the canyon to our destination on Ocean Avenue.
When we began our lunch club venture last year, our intention was to visit some of the most famous Los Angeles restaurants, but somewhere along the way, legendary Southern California hotels became an integral part of our itinerary. We’ve visited the Polo... More...
WESTSIDE BISTRO EQUALS CHUCK YEAGER’S FEAT AND BREAKS SOUND BARRIER
As my friend Jamie and I made our way through the front entrance of the fashionable bistro, the first wave of deafening noise from... More...
NORMAN BERG: THE BOOK REP BEHIND GREAT SOUTHERN WRITERS
Best selling author Pat Conroy’s recent death brought back memories of the late Norman Berg, a former book salesman, who had been instrumental in the writer’s success early in his career.
Berg had been a longtime publisher’s representative who developed a legendary reputation in the South for being much more than a salesman. He had worked behind the scenes for decades as a mentor of young authors, and... More...
REVISITING THE PLACE THAT ROCKED LA’S FOOD SCENE
When our monthly lunch group entered the posh setting of Beverly Hill’s best-known restaurant, I was swept back in time 35 years earlier when I had visited the fashionable Melrose... More...
PAT CONROY: A SOUTHERN VOICE FOR THE AGES
Houston Chronicle
When best-selling author Pat Conroy was once asked by his literary agent why there was not more sex in his novels, he responded, "Because..." More...
MODERN DAY “MUNCHKINS” OUSTED AT CULVER HOTEL
In the last year, our monthly lunch club has visited several of the oldest Southern California hotels in our ongoing quest to dine in some of the areas most famous and historic restaurants. More...
TALKING POLITICS AND “KASHA VARNISHKAS” AT NATE ‘N AL’s
Many people describe the city of Beverly Hills as stylish and fashionable, while others view the excesses of Rodeo Drive-area retailers like... More...
CHEZ JAY’S: “DIVE” OR SANCTUARY?
As you make the drive down Ocean Boulevard in Santa Monica, there stands a modest—almost ramshackle—building amid the bustling growth of new condominiums and hotels there.
The late Jay Fiondella... More...
FARMERS MARKET TRIP BECOMES SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
Maybe our moods were altered somewhat by the cold, gray December day we had chosen to visit the historic Farmers Market on Fairfax Avenue, or perhaps it was simply the... More...
THE DAUNTING CURSE OF HISTORIANS WILL AND ARIEL DURANT
As a newly married young man in my twenties, I belatedly discovered the pleasure of reading... More...
THE POLAR EXPRESS TURNS THIRTY
When I was a young boy growing up in the suburbs of southeast Houston, every Christmas Eve I would sneak out onto our screened front porch and stare into the night sky as I tried... More...
MAKING OUR OWN HISTORY AT THE CHATEAU MARMONT
Barry Stein is the only native Angelino in our monthly lunch group, and he prides himself on knowing every back road and alley in all of Southern California.
His job as driver commands such respect that other members of the group have been instructed to call him “The Driver” when he picks us up for our trips to some of the oldest and most famous restaurants in the city. He often... More...
RENOVATED CLIFTON’S INTRODUCES CAFETERIA NOIR
Remember that disorienting feeling as a kid when you came out of a dark movie theater after the Saturday matinee and made the difficult adjustment to the harsh afternoon... More...
KEEPING UP WITH JIMMY CARTER ON THE BOOK TOUR
While watching former President Jimmy Carter describe the details of his recent cancer diagnosis during a televised news conference, it occurred to me that anyone who had ever met him in person was not surprised by the gracious manner in which he was now... More...
JEREMY TARCHER: WEST COAST PUBLISHING LEGEND
There was a pronounced cadence and deliberate pacing to his speech pattern. He always... More...
WESTSIDE HIGH-ROLLERS STORM THE POLO LOUNGE
As we approached the stately Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, the perennial playground of the rich... More...
REDEFINING ‘DINE L.A.’ AND DISCOVERING FORGOTTEN CITY TREASURES
When our group arrived through the traditional back door entrance of Musso & Frank’s Grill and surveyed the dining room, we all breathed a sigh of relief that there had been no... More...
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE CHARLTON OGBURN III
When Will Aldis enters a room with his remarkable energy, this tall commanding figure often causes heads to turn and conversations to momentarily subside.
His extraordinary life story has surely shaped his personality and has added a decided authority... More...
A LONG GLORIOUS RELATIONSHIP THAT HAS LOST ITS MAGIC
It’s official. As of last week, In-N-Out Burger and I have called it quits. After more than 35 years, we have decided to go our separate ways... More...
MEMORABLE SUMMER NIGHT RENDEZVOUS’ AT LA CARAFE
I sometimes sit in a little French café across the street from my house in Southern California enjoying my breakfast while listening to the piped-in music of Edith Piaf, and become quickly transported back to my college years where I first heard the haunting La vie en rose... More...
TONY VERNA: THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE WAY WE WATCH TELEVISION
Palisades News
Having lunch with my pal Tony
usually entailed requesting a third
napkin for our table—one for
each of us to use with our meal—and the
third to use as a sketch pad so he could
show me his latest invention.
He would often rush while eating his lunch so he could begin to doodle on the spare napkin and illustrate what technological ideas he was... More...
DEMOLITION OF PALISADES BUILDING EVOKES FOND MEMORIES OF VILLAGE BOOKS
Palisades News
Shortly after lunch on January 6, I heard the first loud crash of a crane knocking down the walls of the buildings on North Swarthmore Avenue, directly across the street from my... More...
THE LITERARY ODYSSEY OF JOSH GREENFELD
Palisades News
My friend Josh Greenfeld is a veteran screenwriter, novelist, memoirist and playwright. One of his movie scripts, Harry and Tonto, was nominated for an Academy Award, for which Art Carney won Best Actor in 1974. His highly regarded novel, The Return of Mr. Hollywood, was selected as one of the “100 Best Books” written about Hollywood by the Academy of Motion Picture... More...
THE MYSTIFYING NINE LIVES OF WRITER JERZY KOSINSKI
A restless publishing conference crowd appeared slightly impatient as it awaited the arrival of acclaimed novelist Jerzy Kosinski for... More...
A LONG HISTORY OF DODGING THE DANCE FLOOR SHUFFLE
Just ask any woman in America, and she will assure you that she has a better chance of talking her man into joining her knitting club than trying to coax him onto any dance floor... More...
TALES FROM THE GREEN ROOM: AN EVENING WITH BRITT, RINGO, AND ROYALTY
Ringo Starr was staring at me with a mischievous grin and I wasn’t really sure why... More...
GENEROSITY WITH TIME, LOVE AND LAUGHTER MARKS MEMORIES OF MOM
Houston Chronicle
I knew from the sound of the crack of my bat that this one was a goner. As the ball gained altitude and then arced its way across the street, the only noise that broke the silence of the blistering summer Texas afternoon was the shattering glass of our neighbor's front windowpane.
We reacted in that moment the way teenage boys had done for many generations... More...
SIZING UP EVERLASTING LOVE
Waco Tribune-Herald
My friend Carla has a theory about long marriages. She claims that the relative success of a marriage is directly proportional to the square footage of the house in which... More...
THE SPY NOVELIST IMPOSTER WHO RESCUED OUR PUBLISHING CONFERENCE
It was late on a Thursday afternoon when I looked around the large rectangular table in the Charles Hotel ballroom and noticed several of my co-workers’ drowsily nodding off as our company’s marketing director addressed plans for our lead book title that season... More...
A VETERAN BOOKMAN’S ROAD TRIP CONFESSIONS
When I walked through the swinging doors of the Red Dog Saloon, everyone in the dimly lit bar seemed to stop what they were doing to check out the stranger who had entered their private domain... More...
WACO RIDING RIVERFRONT INTO NEW ERA
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
Most tourists traveling the Interstate 35 corridor would never... More...
WRITING CAREER COMES FULL CIRCLE AFTER FOUR DECADE DETOUR
When my former college journalism professor spotted one of my columns in the Houston Chronicle a few years ago, he sent me a note that... More...
A YOUNG MAN'S DREAMS AND GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Waco Tribune-Herald
Writer Tony Castro’s wide readership may owe his local second grade teacher, Mrs. Coker, a huge debt of gratitude. Had it not been for her keen eye and sixth sense, he might never have found his life’s work as the respected writer he has become.
Castro has enjoyed a long, illustrious career as... More...
DAVID SIMON’S “TREME”: A FITTING ODE TO THE CRESCENT CITY
Almost nine years later, the CNN images are still fresh in our memories—the rising flood waters from Hurricane Katrina forcing stranded... More...
BLACK FRIDAYS GONE WILD!
The Black Friday spectacle of the huddled and frantic masses lining the sidewalks outside front doors of big-box retailers sent an uncomfortable... More
MAKING UNLIKELY NEW FRIENDS ON THE BOOK TOUR CIRCUIT
The day my old friend Frank Winans entered the front door of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with actress Shirley MacLaine clutching... More...
A NEWSROOM SERIOUSLY RUN AMOK
After watching a recent episode of the entertaining, but often maddening HBO series, “The Newsroom,” I decided that someone on that staff needs to empty the office fridge... More...
BRIAN BANKS: THE SUCCESSUL RECLAMATION OF A LIFE
The Alanta Falcon's recent signing of an unproven linebacker would normally not command much media attention, but the circuitous route Brian... More...
AN INFLUENTIAL LIFE REMEMBERED
The day my sister first brought her boyfriend (and future husband) home to meet our family, Bill Graham seemed so tall and larger than life to this scrawny 15-year-old high school sophomore, I was afraid he might... More...
THE LONG WINDING ROAD FROM LUBBOCK TO TINSEL TOWN
The two tall handsome gray-haired gentlemen stood staring each other down across the bookstore counter as if they were about to break out in a classic Burr and Hamilton duel... More...
THE SECOND COMING OF A SILENT FILM STAR
When I received a phone call late last year, there was no mistaking the rich and resonant voice of my longtime friend Diana.
She was calling me from Northern California to tell me she had been invited to make a special appearance at the Turner Classic Movie Film Festival in Los Angeles. She wanted to make sure we arranged some time to spend together while she was in... More...
THE DUTTON’S CULTURAL GIFT TO THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
As I was chatting with Doug Dutton in his backroom office at Dutton’s Brentwood Books, the back door suddenly opened and a well-dressed... More...
A CITY THAT BECKONS AND SUMMONS THE PAST
As I drove north on Pacific Coast Highway and caught a glimpse of the place where mountains meet the ocean, there suddenly appeared a vista that rekindled old memories and... More...
AWAITING MY OLD FRIEND BEN’S DAILY VOICE
None of us standing on the shore should have been surprised when a large pod of dolphins surfaced near the paddle boarders who had formed a circle just offshore.
Our friend Ben’s ashes were being scattered in the emerald-green Pacific waters less than a half-mile from his home. We had assembled for a modest memorial service... More...
A CULINARY SUPERSTAR IS BORN IN HOLLYWOOD
As I entered the dimly lit restaurant on Melrose Boulevard, my eyes had not fully adjusted from the mid-morning Southern California sunlight and I could barely make out the images of the shadows inside Ma Maison.
I spotted a large imposing figure in a darkened corner... More...
A LIFE SPENT AWAKENING THE IMAGINATION OF CHILDREN
From my perch on the mezzanine level of festively decorated Santa Monica Place, I had a birds-eye view of the scene playing out below me as a forlorn-looking Santa Claus sat by himself watching scores of admiring children mob the famous children’s author at the opposite end of the mall... More...
HANGING WITH BRUBECK ON THE QUEEN MARY
I struck up a friendship with a book publicist in Los Angeles shortly after our two publishing companies joined forces in the 1980s. Lucinda worked for J.P. Tarcher Company, the most successful publishing enterprise on the West Coast.
She had met many great musicians during her earlier years as a young publicist for the Dallas Symphony... More...
MY CHARMED LIFE AS LITERARY VALET
I must confess that I discreetly borrowed the expression “literary valet” from the memoir of distinguished former Random House editor, Jason Epstein. Although my career hardly paralleled his, I liked his analogy of our two distinctly diverse job descriptions... More...
SURVIVING THE WHIPLASH EFFECT OF L.A.’S CULTURE CLASH
Several years ago I found myself doing a double-take as I noticed two familiar looking men mingling... More...
EAST AND WEST PUBLISHING CONVERGE ON THE SUNSET STRIP
After years of publishing books of a rather staid and provincial nature like the good New Englanders they were, the folks at Houghton Mifflin decided thirty years ago to add some spice to their yearly catalog when they enlisted a successful Los Angeles publisher of mind, body, and spiritualism titles to their annual mix.
Jeremy P. Tarcher and his idiosyncratic West Coast taste for alternative lifestyle books seemed at once to be quite an odd fit for a venerable old Boston publishing house, which... More...