Thanks once again to my friend Lewis Burke Frumkes for inviting me to appear at the Marymount Manhattan Writers Conference. This was my third and unfortunately final year at the event, because the school has decided after sixteen years to close the program because it needed the space. Too bad; the conferences were very stimulating, …
The highlight of early 2010, namely the class I taught at Marymount Manhattan College, came to an end Thursday night. Called “Writing in a New environment,” we explored blogging, tweeting, and the many changes digital technology has foisted on the word industry. I was joined by a group of students that was small but curious …
First, the roster of the silver medal-winning US Men’s Olympic Hockey Team includes MVP goalie Ryan Miller, defensemen Ryan Suter and Ryan Whitney, and forwards Ryan Kessler, Ryan Malone, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Kesler and Bobby Ryan; I don’t know if Coach Peter Laviolette was ever whistled for too many Ryans on the ice, but he …
The Writing Center of Marymount Manhattan College celebrated its 17th anniversary with a dinner at Doubles in the Sherry Netherland on Wednesday night, and thanks to El Directore, Lewis Burke Frumkes, I got to attend. Among the others present were Bruce Jay Friedman (who told me a funny story about how he hired Mario Puzo …
Many thanks to True/Slant’s senior producer Michael Roston, who came to my class at Marymount Manhatan College last week to talk about what makes an interesting blog, how writers can generate more traffic, and so on. Michael is very big on linking, which is why I’m linking to his True/Slant page here. He didn’t seem …
I had a lot of fun yesterday at the annual Marymount Manhattan Writers’ Conference. First, I participated in a panel on Humor Writing hosted by my friend and benefactor Lewis Burke Frumkes, on which I was honored (a much-abused word, but in this case, totally appropriate) to join my friend Ben Cheever; Tony Hendra, whom …
With the final class of my course in Magazine Writing at Marymount Manhattan College last night, I concluded my debut effort as a teacher. It was an enjoyable experience–certainly enjoyable enough that I’ll do it again next year. Thanks to the students who showed up and participated most enthusiastically for the last two months, including …
As Clive Owen put it in the brilliant last line of Children of Men, “What a day!” It started (late) with a very fine lunch at Bar American (the old Judson Grill at Seventh and 52nd) with my old and dear friend from Spy days, John Connolly, now a contributor to Vanity Fair, and his …
Many, many thanks to A.J. Jacobs, my friend and former colleague at Entertainment Weekly, now a mainstay at Esquire and famous Oprah-appearing author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, who last Thursday visited the class in magazine writing that I teach at Marymount Manhattan College. A.J. talked about how he got his …