Category Archives: Articles

Kudos to the L.A. Times reporters & staff for winning the Public Service Pulitzer Prize for revealing the exorbitant salaries ($800,000!@#!) and financial abuses of city officials in Bell, California. It was an eye-popping series of articles that hopefully will lead to greater protection from such abuses in the future. Old-time newspapering at its best. Continue reading →

Christopher Buckley’s book excerpt “Growing Up Buckley” in the April 26 New York Times Magazine on his parents’ passings is revealing, heartfelt and funny. From his memoir: “Losing Mum and Pup,” the article and book are too good to pass up.

Verlyn Klinkenborg’s “Some Thoughts on the Pleasures of Being a Re-Reader” in the May 30 New York Times is a neat short essay on the refuge that familiar novels bring.

The Los Angeles Times article “The Typist’s Tale of Last Tycoon” by David Ulin about what F. Scott Fitzgerald’s secretary witnessed is fascinating. At 92, Frances Kroll Ring is still alive, and offers a unique glimpse of the great author. For more, check out her 1985 book: “Against the Current: As I Remember F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

Pico Iyer’s op-ed “The Joy of Less” in the June 7 New York Times hits home in a time of recession on the happiness that a simple life brings.

“A Personal Touch in Taliban Fight” by Greg Jaffe in the June 22 Washington Post is a noteworthy portrait of a company commander’s work in the Afghan mountains. Continue reading →

New York Times foreign correspondent Dexter Filkins’s essay “Surging and Awakening” in The New Republic on the turnabout of U.S. strategy in Iraq and what it could mean in Afghanistan shouldn’t be missed. Filkins delivered a whopper of a book (“The Forever War”) on U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan in September 2008, which won a Pulitzer Prize, proving he’s a reporter to follow.

Christopher Goffard’s front-page article “Fleeing All but Each Other” in The Los Angeles Times on the young drifters and runaways who crisscross the country by hopping trains was riveting reading. I could not put down its tragic story of Adam Kuntz and Ashley Hughes and the hard lives of such “traveling kids.”

Vanity Fair’s June article “Hello, Madoff!” on what the Ponzi schemer’s secretary of 20 years witnessed is essential reading, especially for those still trying to figure out how this all happened and what this nutcase was like.

Edward Klein’s book excerpt “The Lion and Legacy” on Ted Kennedy’s battle with brain cancer in the June Vanity Fair is a tough look behind the dilemma. And among other things, it claims Caroline Kennedy pulled out of last year’s N.Y. Senate race because of her kids’ concerns, which she has since dismissed as untrue.

Writer Daphne Merkin’s lifelong battle with chronic depression is heart-wrenchingly captured in her article “A Long Journey in the Dark” in the New York Times Magazine. It’s a tough read but can’t be missed for those hoping she’ll continue to recover. Continue reading →