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Thank You, Cary Regional Library!
On Sunday afternoon, I visited the Cary Regional Library in Cary, NC, which opened only a few weeks ago—it still has that new-library smell. (And it’s apparently been a huge hit: they had thousands of...
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Holiday Shopping: How to Buy a Signed Copy of One of My Books
So you want to buy a copy of one of my books for a loved one in the upcoming holiday season? Well, I’d certainly recommend that: I’ve got twelve books now, one of which is certain to be perfect for...
View ArticleTwo Remarkable Women
This past week, I had obituaries printed in The New York Times for two very different, very accomplished women: Marie Fredriksson and Rose Mackenberg. Marie Fredriksson was one-half of Roxette, the...
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Bill Murray Update
It’s been over three years since the publication of The Tao of Bill Murray, my book about the philosophy and adventures of America’s prankster god. Delightfully, Bill Murray has continued in his...
View ArticleRanking Roger
Congratulations to Roger Deakins, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography last night for his work on 1917! (It was his second Oscar, after Blade Runner 2029 in 2017, both of which followed...
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Tom Hanks, the Pandemic, and Us
Tom Hanks likes to populate his Instagram with photos of single gloves: one lonely half of a pair, lost on the ground, an object poignantly seeking a partner. But a few weeks ago, the glove he...
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Ben Day and Aqua Net
In recent weeks, I wrote two articles for the New York Times arts section: one was about daily newspaper cartoonists grappling with how to address the pandemic in their strips, while the other was a...
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Please Mr. Postman
The Grimshawes post office, roughly the size of a postage stamp. My first article for Our State magazine–the glossy monthly about the life and history of North Carolina–took me to the mountainous town...
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Alex Trebek: the Man, the Myth, the Mustache
Alex Trebek (left) and me in 2000. One of the weird things about writing advance obituaries: you immerse yourself in somebody else’s life, striving to get the details right and to sum up the broad...
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Gathering the Magic
“Manic Scribe” would be a good job title to put on a business card, actually. If you pick up a copy of today’s Washington Post, you will find my first article for that fine publication, about the card...
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