First novel inspired Poe-grisly murder? And do we need racism and anti-Semitism in ‘somewhat autobiographical’ works?

Update: Patrick Quere and his publisher parted ways in August 2011. – D.R. Nancy Bruneau’s killer cracked open her skull, sliced her up, and scattered brain and liver fragments in her front yard in Hollywood, Florida. Her wacko son, Beau, 29, now faces first-degree murder charges. Was the killing of Ms. Bruneau, a popular bartender […]

Read More

‘Typestolgia’: A neologism for nostalgic typewriter lovers

In the 19th century the great change on the seas was from sail to steam, and in the newsroom during the 20th century, the big transition was from typewriters to computers and the Internet. Now a related neologism has popped up in the Urban Dictionary—typestolgia: “(n.) – A nostalgia for old manual and electric typewriters […]

Read More

‘Romenesko’d’: Dan Bloom’s musical obit for ‘snail’ newspapers—or at least his op-ed about it

For the op-ed page and Web site of the Providence Journal, my friend Dan Bloom wrote partly about his song honoring old-fashioned newspapers, aka ”Snailpapers.” He confessed that not everyone loved this “musical obit,” as ex-Washington Star gossip columnist Diana McLellan dubbed it. Lo and behold, however, Danny’s Journal op-ed drew a link from Jim […]

Read More

Danny Bloom’s newspaper obit song: Praise from Carl Bernstein and at least 1/2 an Ear

In the newspaper love department, I’m a piker compared to Danny Bloom, an American journalist living in Taiwan. Check out a YouTube of a song he wrote, I Just Can’t Live (Without My Snailpaper). I linked to it earlier from my semi-traitorous post telling how my old factory town newspaper in Ohio could use the […]

Read More

A few words on tech, ‘screening’ and e-text—and Danny Bloom (1949-2032?)

I date back to the Smith Corona days of newspapers, and I can fondly recall a group named something like the Anti All Digital Dialing League. I’ll not bow blindly to the gods of technology. Within the book industry, I’m rooting for the survival of paper books and especially of the small independent stores selling […]

Read More