—>CAREER OVERVIEW
*Fifteen semesters of college teaching experience, eight of them at Indiana University’s elite school of journalism.
*Increasingly responsible staff positions in editing/publication management, most recently as executive editor of Men's Health Books.
*Over two decades of freelance/contract writing for the premier publications in their respective categories, including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and The Wall Street Journal. Also: books, films and corporate PR at the highest levels.
—>RECENT CAREER IN DETAIL
Freelance journalist, Nov. 1981—Present. Have written over 400 cover stories, feature articles, interviews, essays and works of satire (on business, health, sports, politics, music, social poli
cy and entertainment) for publications including Harper’s, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, Entrepreneur, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Men’s Health, Publishers Weekly, Worth, Playboy, The World & I and others. For much of the mid-90s I was the "designated pinch-hitter" columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s opinion/leisure & arts pages, supplying more than two dozen columns.
Adjunct Professor/Writer-in-Residence, Muhlenberg College, Fall 2002—Spring 2005. Taught courses in first-person nonfiction and magazine writing/editing at this respected four-year college.
Executive Editor, Men’s Health Books, June 2000—Oct. 2001. With a circulation of 1.8 million, Men’s Health magazine is an award-winning category leader. Managing a staff of editors, writers and researchers, I oversaw all activity—trade books, mail-order books, and special-sales channels—for this branded imprint of the nation’s largest privately owned publishing company.
Visiting Professor/Riley Chair in Magazine Journalism, IU-Bloomington, Fall 1996—June 2000. Taught feature reporting, writing and editing at IU's top-ranked school of journalism. Contributed to curriculum development, mentored grad students and served as faculty advisor to the editors of the journalism-school magazine; wrote and recorded radio scripts/CDs for distribution as part of the university’s outreach to high-school students. To my knowledge, I was the only non-tenured faculty member in any discipline nominated as Teacher of the Year during my time at IU.
Publisher, Editor-in-Chief of American Legion Magazine, Dec. 1994—Dec. 1997. Despite being the eponymous publication of the well-known veterans-service organization, Legion offered the same fare as any major monthly, covering important events and trends in business, government, sports, healthcare and other issues of interest to a broad audience. During my stewardship the magazine set advertising records that remain in place today, while also winning more than a dozen major editorial awards in its category.
* I am also a multi-award-winning publicist with numerous "best in show" accolades in industry competitions that rank annual reports and other major corporate writing/consulting projects. References available on request.
—>MAJOR WORKS: BOOKS & FILMS
* My controversial book on the self-help movement, SHAM: How the Self-Help Move
ment Made America Helpless (Crown), received a significant media reception in June 2005. To date I have made over 175 appearances on radio and television, including prime-time segments on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. SHAM was widely (and, for the most part, glowingly) reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and elsewhere; excerpts/related articles ran in leading publications worldwide, including a two-part cover story in the London Times. The paperback was published in September 2006.
* My 1987 true-crime on the murder of Texas politician Price Daniel Jr., Deadly Blessing (Morrow, hardcover; St. Martin’s, softback, 1988) became a featured book-club selection. Deadly Blessing was adapted for television by Warner Bros. and debuted on ABC in January 1992 as Bed of Lies. I served as a script consultant on the project.
* Trade critics hailed my first book, The Newest Profession (William Morrow, 1985), as one of the year’s top sales & marketing titles.
—>EDUCATION
Graduated cum laude from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Jan. 1972. Degree in English, minor in music.
—>MISCELLANY
An accomplished jazz musician and arranger; performed at top clubs in New York's Greenwich Village and elsewhere. Have played 15 years of men's amateur baseball, and have coached baseball and football at levels up to and including college.
*Increasingly responsible staff positions in editing/publication management, most recently as executive editor of Men's Health Books.
*Over two decades of freelance/contract writing for the premier publications in their respective categories, including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and The Wall Street Journal. Also: books, films and corporate PR at the highest levels.
—>RECENT CAREER IN DETAIL
Freelance journalist, Nov. 1981—Present. Have written over 400 cover stories, feature articles, interviews, essays and works of satire (on business, health, sports, politics, music, social poli
cy and entertainment) for publications including Harper’s, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, Entrepreneur, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Men’s Health, Publishers Weekly, Worth, Playboy, The World & I and others. For much of the mid-90s I was the "designated pinch-hitter" columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s opinion/leisure & arts pages, supplying more than two dozen columns.Adjunct Professor/Writer-in-Residence, Muhlenberg College, Fall 2002—Spring 2005. Taught courses in first-person nonfiction and magazine writing/editing at this respected four-year college.
Executive Editor, Men’s Health Books, June 2000—Oct. 2001. With a circulation of 1.8 million, Men’s Health magazine is an award-winning category leader. Managing a staff of editors, writers and researchers, I oversaw all activity—trade books, mail-order books, and special-sales channels—for this branded imprint of the nation’s largest privately owned publishing company.
Visiting Professor/Riley Chair in Magazine Journalism, IU-Bloomington, Fall 1996—June 2000. Taught feature reporting, writing and editing at IU's top-ranked school of journalism. Contributed to curriculum development, mentored grad students and served as faculty advisor to the editors of the journalism-school magazine; wrote and recorded radio scripts/CDs for distribution as part of the university’s outreach to high-school students. To my knowledge, I was the only non-tenured faculty member in any discipline nominated as Teacher of the Year during my time at IU.
Publisher, Editor-in-Chief of American Legion Magazine, Dec. 1994—Dec. 1997. Despite being the eponymous publication of the well-known veterans-service organization, Legion offered the same fare as any major monthly, covering important events and trends in business, government, sports, healthcare and other issues of interest to a broad audience. During my stewardship the magazine set advertising records that remain in place today, while also winning more than a dozen major editorial awards in its category.
* I am also a multi-award-winning publicist with numerous "best in show" accolades in industry competitions that rank annual reports and other major corporate writing/consulting projects. References available on request.
—>MAJOR WORKS: BOOKS & FILMS
* My controversial book on the self-help movement, SHAM: How the Self-Help Move
ment Made America Helpless (Crown), received a significant media reception in June 2005. To date I have made over 175 appearances on radio and television, including prime-time segments on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. SHAM was widely (and, for the most part, glowingly) reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and elsewhere; excerpts/related articles ran in leading publications worldwide, including a two-part cover story in the London Times. The paperback was published in September 2006.* My 1987 true-crime on the murder of Texas politician Price Daniel Jr., Deadly Blessing (Morrow, hardcover; St. Martin’s, softback, 1988) became a featured book-club selection. Deadly Blessing was adapted for television by Warner Bros. and debuted on ABC in January 1992 as Bed of Lies. I served as a script consultant on the project.
* Trade critics hailed my first book, The Newest Profession (William Morrow, 1985), as one of the year’s top sales & marketing titles.
—>EDUCATION
Graduated cum laude from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Jan. 1972. Degree in English, minor in music.
—>MISCELLANY
An accomplished jazz musician and arranger; performed at top clubs in New York's Greenwich Village and elsewhere. Have played 15 years of men's amateur baseball, and have coached baseball and football at levels up to and including college.
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