From Keith Taylor...
Me and the Admiral
by
Keith Taylor
Admiral Mike Mullen and I have something in common. We are both Navy men of long standing. I enlisted in 1947, and made the leap from enlisted to officer in 1964. Mike became an ensign in 1968. Hey, I outranked him by half a stripe, but that was temporary. I stayed a JagGee. Mike ended up with so much gold on his sleeve I wonder how he is able to raise his arm to return a salute, and that’s a lot. He’s now the top dog in our armed forces.
But me and the Admiral have more in common than being veterans for a long time. Both of us bought the idea that homosexuality and military life were incompatible. I don’t know what they taught the plebes at Annapolis in the 60s, but the boot pushers at Great Lakes in 1947 told us those guys weren’t to be trusted or tolerated, and they were to be discharged as soon as they were caught, simple as that.
With “everybody” believing the same thing it was easy to go along. But doubt crept in. In 1964 shortly after the Navy “promoted” me from being the senior enlisted man on a ship to being the junior officer in the universe, an ensign. I was assigned to a small island far away when my skipper suddenly disappeared.
Mister Smith (not his real name) was, like me, a mustang. He was also a grouchy old goat, but he sported a chest full of ribbons gained from a long and honorable 26-years in the Navy. Ironically Smitty’s request for retirement was turned down because he was too valuable and the Navy would have to find a qualified relief. Then he made a trip to Washington to discuss a problem and we never saw him again.
Word about him filtered down the scuttlebutt pipeline slowly. Only two things are known for sure. He was caught in some sort of homosexual act and was given a choice of a general court martial or a general discharge. Some said he was so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing. If so, that didn’t matter. The rules of the Uniform Code of Military Justice were immutable. Any penetration no matter how slight was forbidden. Whether Greg penetrated or was penetrated didn’t matter. He was a goner. Twenty-six years of faithful, sometimes, cantankerous, service was wiped out by those archaic rules.
But that was a long time ago. The term “homosexual” disappeared and was replaced by the ironic term “gay.” In 1993 a new president promised to change the rules and allow gay men and women to serve in the armed forces. But it was thwarted by congress with the strong backing of the leaders of the armed forces. We ended up with don’t ask, don’t tell rule. It was a great invitation to sweep a problem, if it was a problem, under the desk.
In essence it said, our fighting men and women could be as gay as they wished as long as they didn’t tell anybody, and as long as they didn’t have sex with folks of the same sex. All sorts of sex is against the law but, some laws are more vigorously prosecuted. None more than when the word “gay” pops up.
As with so many compromises it was a complete flop. According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group devoted to defending gays who are being discriminated against by the military, discharges increased 72% in the first ten years of Don’t Ask.
Now a new president is again trying to carry out a campaign policy by doing away with roadblocks to their serving. And again we hear the objections. Our local congressman, Duncan Hunter, just raised the horrible specter that rescinding the ban altogether would open the military “to transgenders, to hermaphrodites, to gays and lesbians." Not that it was a huge problem. I never took a shower with a hermaphrodite during my 22 years, nine months, and 11 days active service. Nor did I take one with a lesbian. Gays, I’m just not sure.
But the congressman seems to be on the losing side of this. A poll just out by Military Times indicates only half of its readers don’t ask compared to 63% a few years ago.
I doubt that he was polled, but my old running mate (for a short while) changed course as well. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, testified before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,”
Welcome aboard the ship of common sense admiral, even if it took you a while.
Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer living in Chula Vista. He can be reached at KRTaylorxyz@aol.com
Wrap...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
CIA Hit List...
From Secrecy News...
NO U.S. CITIZENS ON CIA HIT LISTS
It is useful to be reminded from time to time that not every allegation or published report concerning Central Intelligence Agency operations is necessarily true.
A front-page story in the Washington Post on January 27 included the remarkable statement that "Both the CIA and the JSOC [Joint Special Operations Command of the Department of Defense] maintain lists of individuals... whom they seek to kill or capture. The JSOC list includes three Americans, including [Islamist cleric Anwar al-] Aulaqi, whose name was added late last year. As of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens, and an intelligence official said that Aulaqi's name has now been added."
But at least the part about the CIA list turns out to be unfounded.
"The article referred incorrectly to the presence of U.S. citizens on a CIA list of people the agency seeks to kill or capture," the Washington Post said in a correction published in the February 12 edition. "After The Post's report was published, a source said that a statement the source made about the CIA list was misunderstood. Additional reporting produced no independent confirmation of the original report, and a CIA spokesman said that The Post's account of the list was incorrect. The military's Joint Special Operations Command maintains a target list that includes several Americans. In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said that the government is prepared to kill U.S. citizens who are believed to be involved in terrorist activities that threaten Americans."
The correction has been appended to the online version of the article.
On February 3, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair testified to his view that U.S. government agencies may use lethal force against U.S. citizens who are involved in terrorist activities. "We don't target people for free speech," he said. "We target them for taking action that threatens Americans."
"I'm actually a little bit surprised you went this far in open session," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) at the hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.
"The reason I went this far in open session," replied DNI Blair, "is I just don't want other Americans who are watching to think that we are careless about endangering -- in fact, we're not careless about endangering lives at all, but we especially are not careless about endangering American lives as we try to carry out the policies to protect most of the country. And I think we ought to go into details in closed session."
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
NO U.S. CITIZENS ON CIA HIT LISTS
It is useful to be reminded from time to time that not every allegation or published report concerning Central Intelligence Agency operations is necessarily true.
A front-page story in the Washington Post on January 27 included the remarkable statement that "Both the CIA and the JSOC [Joint Special Operations Command of the Department of Defense] maintain lists of individuals... whom they seek to kill or capture. The JSOC list includes three Americans, including [Islamist cleric Anwar al-] Aulaqi, whose name was added late last year. As of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens, and an intelligence official said that Aulaqi's name has now been added."
But at least the part about the CIA list turns out to be unfounded.
"The article referred incorrectly to the presence of U.S. citizens on a CIA list of people the agency seeks to kill or capture," the Washington Post said in a correction published in the February 12 edition. "After The Post's report was published, a source said that a statement the source made about the CIA list was misunderstood. Additional reporting produced no independent confirmation of the original report, and a CIA spokesman said that The Post's account of the list was incorrect. The military's Joint Special Operations Command maintains a target list that includes several Americans. In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said that the government is prepared to kill U.S. citizens who are believed to be involved in terrorist activities that threaten Americans."
The correction has been appended to the online version of the article.
On February 3, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair testified to his view that U.S. government agencies may use lethal force against U.S. citizens who are involved in terrorist activities. "We don't target people for free speech," he said. "We target them for taking action that threatens Americans."
"I'm actually a little bit surprised you went this far in open session," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) at the hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.
"The reason I went this far in open session," replied DNI Blair, "is I just don't want other Americans who are watching to think that we are careless about endangering -- in fact, we're not careless about endangering lives at all, but we especially are not careless about endangering American lives as we try to carry out the policies to protect most of the country. And I think we ought to go into details in closed session."
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
And Still More Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION
DEBUT...
Kieran Shields' debut novel, THE TRUTH OF ALL THINGS, in which a police inspector in Portland, Maine finds a murdered prostitute pinned to the earth with a pitchfork, and learns that death by "sticking" is a traditional method of killing a witch, and enlists a brilliant Abenaki Indian criminalist to help, as each detective overcomes his skepticism of the other's methods as they follow a trail through postmortems and opium dens, into the spiritualist societies and lunatic asylums of gothic New England, and the Salem witch trials' profound connection to the local Native American tribes, until it reveals the story of the accused witches we almost never hear about: the men, to Sean Desmond at Crown, at auction, for publication in fall 2011, by Erin Malone and Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Stacia Brown's ACCIDENTS OF PROVIDENCE, the story of a young glove-maker in London who falls in love with a member of the radical Levelers, and falls victim to a law targeting unwed mothers during the Puritan Revolution, to Jenna Johnson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Henry Dunow.
THRILLER...
International bestselling author Jeff Abbott's ADRENALINE, the start of a series featuring Sam Capra -- a brilliant CIA agent, loving husband, and expectant father, who loses everything that matters to him a horrifying moment in London and escapes from the CIA to go on a desperate hunt to save his kidnapped wife and child, reuniting with Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, for publication in summer 2011, in a two-book deal, by Curtis Brown (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
Edna O'Brien's OLD WOUNDS, a story collection and her memoir, COUNTRY GIRL, to Pat Strachan at Little, Brown, and to Lee Brackstone at Faber & Faber, at auction, by Ed Victor of Ed Victor Ltd..
Bookforum editor Chris Lehmann's RICH PEOPLE THINGS, an adaptation of the author's witty columns for The Awl about the trials and tribulations of society's most fortunate members and institutions, to Colin Robinson at Or Books, by Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group (World).
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
General George S. Patton's youngest grandson, Benjamin Patton's WITH ALL THY MIGHT: Life Lessons From My Father, His Father & Our Personal Heroes, based on an article in Smithsonian, with previously unpublished material on Patton and interviews with everyone the author has known, from Rommel's son and Major General James Dozier to an American nun living undercover in occupied France and his mother, reading like a compendium of heroes who share their "life lessons"; pitched as Profiles in Courage meets Tuesdays with Morrie, to Natalee Rosenstein at Caliber, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by Harvey Klinger at Harvey Klinger (NA).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Louis Hyman's BORROW: A Brief History of Debt in Modern America, the story of how the United States became a nation fueled by credit, focusing on the micro-level, individual decisions of Americans over the course of the last century - from buying a Model T, to speculating on houses in the roaring 20s, to charging freely at Bloomies in the 40s and 50s, to getting that first credit card or home equity line - a journey through American history following a single character that has shaped a significant portion of it, to Jeff Alexander at Pantheon, by Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
FT columnist 'The Undercover Economist' Tim Harford's ADAPT: How to Save the World One Failure at a Time, which looks at how we can solve both global problems - climate change, the threat of terrorism, the impact of the financial crisis, etc. - and issues in our personal and business lives through accepting failure as part of progress and using the same, under-rated method: trial and error, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency on behalf of Sally Holloway at Felicity Bryan (US).
MEMOIR...
Erica Heller's YOSSARIAN SLEPT HERE, a humorous, moving memoir of her childhood and her parents, Shirley and Joseph Heller, set against the backdrop of the Apthorp apartment building where the Heller family has lived for decades, to Sarah Hochman at Simon & Schuster, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, for publication in Fall 2011 (the 50th Anniversary of the publication of CATCH-22) (world).
The Daily Beast correspondent and former WSJ reporter Rebecca Dana's JUJITSU RABBI AND THE GODLESS BLONDE, pitched as Candace Bushnell meets The Odd Couple meets Shalom Auslander, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a two-book deal, at auction, by Jason Anthony and Rachel Vogel at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (world).
Wrap...
FICTION
DEBUT...
Kieran Shields' debut novel, THE TRUTH OF ALL THINGS, in which a police inspector in Portland, Maine finds a murdered prostitute pinned to the earth with a pitchfork, and learns that death by "sticking" is a traditional method of killing a witch, and enlists a brilliant Abenaki Indian criminalist to help, as each detective overcomes his skepticism of the other's methods as they follow a trail through postmortems and opium dens, into the spiritualist societies and lunatic asylums of gothic New England, and the Salem witch trials' profound connection to the local Native American tribes, until it reveals the story of the accused witches we almost never hear about: the men, to Sean Desmond at Crown, at auction, for publication in fall 2011, by Erin Malone and Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Stacia Brown's ACCIDENTS OF PROVIDENCE, the story of a young glove-maker in London who falls in love with a member of the radical Levelers, and falls victim to a law targeting unwed mothers during the Puritan Revolution, to Jenna Johnson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Henry Dunow.
THRILLER...
International bestselling author Jeff Abbott's ADRENALINE, the start of a series featuring Sam Capra -- a brilliant CIA agent, loving husband, and expectant father, who loses everything that matters to him a horrifying moment in London and escapes from the CIA to go on a desperate hunt to save his kidnapped wife and child, reuniting with Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, for publication in summer 2011, in a two-book deal, by Curtis Brown (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
Edna O'Brien's OLD WOUNDS, a story collection and her memoir, COUNTRY GIRL, to Pat Strachan at Little, Brown, and to Lee Brackstone at Faber & Faber, at auction, by Ed Victor of Ed Victor Ltd..
Bookforum editor Chris Lehmann's RICH PEOPLE THINGS, an adaptation of the author's witty columns for The Awl about the trials and tribulations of society's most fortunate members and institutions, to Colin Robinson at Or Books, by Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group (World).
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
General George S. Patton's youngest grandson, Benjamin Patton's WITH ALL THY MIGHT: Life Lessons From My Father, His Father & Our Personal Heroes, based on an article in Smithsonian, with previously unpublished material on Patton and interviews with everyone the author has known, from Rommel's son and Major General James Dozier to an American nun living undercover in occupied France and his mother, reading like a compendium of heroes who share their "life lessons"; pitched as Profiles in Courage meets Tuesdays with Morrie, to Natalee Rosenstein at Caliber, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by Harvey Klinger at Harvey Klinger (NA).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Louis Hyman's BORROW: A Brief History of Debt in Modern America, the story of how the United States became a nation fueled by credit, focusing on the micro-level, individual decisions of Americans over the course of the last century - from buying a Model T, to speculating on houses in the roaring 20s, to charging freely at Bloomies in the 40s and 50s, to getting that first credit card or home equity line - a journey through American history following a single character that has shaped a significant portion of it, to Jeff Alexander at Pantheon, by Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
FT columnist 'The Undercover Economist' Tim Harford's ADAPT: How to Save the World One Failure at a Time, which looks at how we can solve both global problems - climate change, the threat of terrorism, the impact of the financial crisis, etc. - and issues in our personal and business lives through accepting failure as part of progress and using the same, under-rated method: trial and error, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency on behalf of Sally Holloway at Felicity Bryan (US).
MEMOIR...
Erica Heller's YOSSARIAN SLEPT HERE, a humorous, moving memoir of her childhood and her parents, Shirley and Joseph Heller, set against the backdrop of the Apthorp apartment building where the Heller family has lived for decades, to Sarah Hochman at Simon & Schuster, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, for publication in Fall 2011 (the 50th Anniversary of the publication of CATCH-22) (world).
The Daily Beast correspondent and former WSJ reporter Rebecca Dana's JUJITSU RABBI AND THE GODLESS BLONDE, pitched as Candace Bushnell meets The Odd Couple meets Shalom Auslander, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a two-book deal, at auction, by Jason Anthony and Rachel Vogel at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (world).
Wrap...
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Some Unusual Books Coming...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION
DEBUT...
Susan Juby's THE REPUBLIC OF DIRT, about a well-intentioned but inept woman leading a cast of misfits as she tries to save her inheritance, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in March 2011, by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (US).
MYSTERY/CRIME...
Dennis Lehane's untitled Patrick & Angie mystery, the 6th and final Patrick & Angie novel, a sequel to "Gone Baby Gone", to Claire Wachtel for William Morrow, for publication in 2011, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (NA).
THRILLER...
Doug Magee's NEVER WAVE GOODBYE, minutes after a couple put their only child on a van for sleepaway camp, a second van arrives to pick the girl up -- and no one at the camp has any knowledge of the first van or its driver, to Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside, in a two-book deal, for publication in June 2010, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (NA).
German rights to Aufbau, by Sabine Pfannensteil-Wright at Andrew Nurnberg Associates; Portuguese rights to Sextante, by Daniela Petracco at Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
GENERAL/OTHER...
Jojo Moyes's THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER, searching her newspaper's archives for a story, a woman is surprised to discover a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband; despite, or perhaps because of her own romantic entanglements with a married man, she can't help but investigate; in 1960 a different woman wakes up in hospital after a car accident; she can't remember anything - her husband, her friends, who she used to be; and then, when she returns home, she uncovers a hidden letter, and begins to remember the lover she was willing to risk everything for, to Pamela Dorman of Pamela Dorman Books, for publication in summer 2011, by Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown UK (NA).
NON-FICTION:
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Chris Brogan's SOCIAL MEDIA 101, the follow-up to Trust Agents and a quick-to-market guide to the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests, to Shannon Vargo at Wiley, for publication in March 2010 (World).
Founder of Digg.com Kevin Rose's ONE TO ONE MILLION, to Harper Studio.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
High-school-principal-turned-media-phenomenon Steve Perry's PUSH HAS COME TO SHOVE, in which the educator and CNN commentator reveals the "whatever it takes" secrets of the inner-city high school he founded and runs, now being seen as a template for how America can reinvent its schools, to Rick Horgan at Crown, by Bonnie Solow at Solow Literary Enterprises (world).
LKaplan@randomhouse.com.
Investigative reporter and author of The Sellout Charlie Gasparino's BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, exploring the unholy alliance among Big Business, Big Banking, and Big Government, to Adrian Zackheim at Sentinel, at auction, by Ethan Friedman and Stephen Hanselman at LevelFiveMedia (world).
MEMOIR:
Actor and activist Ashley Judd's highly personal memoir about change and hope and human transformation "along with those [stories] of the beautiful and resilient people I've met in the most desperate places," drawing on 500 pages of journal entries compiled while serving as global ambassador for the public health non-profits PSI (Population Services International)/Youth AIDS, to Pamela Cannon at Ballantine, for publication in spring 2011, with a foreword by Nicholas Kristof, by Trena Keating at Keating Literary (world English).
Gidget the Taco Bell Dog's trainer Sue Chipperton's A (FAMOUS) DOG'S LIFE, with People Magazine staffer Rennie Dyball, celebrating the unusual life of this celebrated celebrity dog, and exploring the life of a Hollywood animal trainer who has worked on everything from LEGALLY BLONDE and the Aflac commercials to TITANIC and GRAN TORINO, to Danielle Perez at NAL, by Mollie Glick at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
SCIENCE:
THE MORAL ANIMAL and THE EVOLUTION OF GOD Robert Wright's untitled book on what evolution tells us about finding a happiness worth having, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Rafe Sagalyn at The Sagalyn Agency.
Wrap...
FICTION
DEBUT...
Susan Juby's THE REPUBLIC OF DIRT, about a well-intentioned but inept woman leading a cast of misfits as she tries to save her inheritance, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in March 2011, by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (US).
MYSTERY/CRIME...
Dennis Lehane's untitled Patrick & Angie mystery, the 6th and final Patrick & Angie novel, a sequel to "Gone Baby Gone", to Claire Wachtel for William Morrow, for publication in 2011, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (NA).
THRILLER...
Doug Magee's NEVER WAVE GOODBYE, minutes after a couple put their only child on a van for sleepaway camp, a second van arrives to pick the girl up -- and no one at the camp has any knowledge of the first van or its driver, to Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside, in a two-book deal, for publication in June 2010, by Ann Rittenberg at Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency (NA).
German rights to Aufbau, by Sabine Pfannensteil-Wright at Andrew Nurnberg Associates; Portuguese rights to Sextante, by Daniela Petracco at Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
GENERAL/OTHER...
Jojo Moyes's THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER, searching her newspaper's archives for a story, a woman is surprised to discover a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband; despite, or perhaps because of her own romantic entanglements with a married man, she can't help but investigate; in 1960 a different woman wakes up in hospital after a car accident; she can't remember anything - her husband, her friends, who she used to be; and then, when she returns home, she uncovers a hidden letter, and begins to remember the lover she was willing to risk everything for, to Pamela Dorman of Pamela Dorman Books, for publication in summer 2011, by Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown UK (NA).
NON-FICTION:
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
Chris Brogan's SOCIAL MEDIA 101, the follow-up to Trust Agents and a quick-to-market guide to the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests, to Shannon Vargo at Wiley, for publication in March 2010 (World).
Founder of Digg.com Kevin Rose's ONE TO ONE MILLION, to Harper Studio.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
High-school-principal-turned-media-phenomenon Steve Perry's PUSH HAS COME TO SHOVE, in which the educator and CNN commentator reveals the "whatever it takes" secrets of the inner-city high school he founded and runs, now being seen as a template for how America can reinvent its schools, to Rick Horgan at Crown, by Bonnie Solow at Solow Literary Enterprises (world).
LKaplan@randomhouse.com.
Investigative reporter and author of The Sellout Charlie Gasparino's BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, exploring the unholy alliance among Big Business, Big Banking, and Big Government, to Adrian Zackheim at Sentinel, at auction, by Ethan Friedman and Stephen Hanselman at LevelFiveMedia (world).
MEMOIR:
Actor and activist Ashley Judd's highly personal memoir about change and hope and human transformation "along with those [stories] of the beautiful and resilient people I've met in the most desperate places," drawing on 500 pages of journal entries compiled while serving as global ambassador for the public health non-profits PSI (Population Services International)/Youth AIDS, to Pamela Cannon at Ballantine, for publication in spring 2011, with a foreword by Nicholas Kristof, by Trena Keating at Keating Literary (world English).
Gidget the Taco Bell Dog's trainer Sue Chipperton's A (FAMOUS) DOG'S LIFE, with People Magazine staffer Rennie Dyball, celebrating the unusual life of this celebrated celebrity dog, and exploring the life of a Hollywood animal trainer who has worked on everything from LEGALLY BLONDE and the Aflac commercials to TITANIC and GRAN TORINO, to Danielle Perez at NAL, by Mollie Glick at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
SCIENCE:
THE MORAL ANIMAL and THE EVOLUTION OF GOD Robert Wright's untitled book on what evolution tells us about finding a happiness worth having, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Rafe Sagalyn at The Sagalyn Agency.
Wrap...
Monday, February 01, 2010
Health Care Brouhaha....
From Keith Taylor:
HEALTH CARE BROUHAHA
by
Keith Taylor
Well, it’s over, or so it would seem. Even a compromise will leave us far behind virtually all other developed nations, each with a working national health care program. And, by every means of measure, all are much better off for having one.
Despite the claims, few of the objections started with the rank and file They were the result of a coordinated effort by powerful interests who have had a world of experience of swaying the opinion of a our nation.
Hence: “IT’S SOCIALISM” cried a teabagger, obviously elated to be on TV. He was so upset at the idea of having a national health care system in the land of the free he wanted to go back to the way America was in the beginning. I waited in vain for the reporter to ask if he wanted to explain to his wife why she wouldn’t be able to vote or own property? Or did he just want to buy a slave as people had in the beginning.
And so it went. The brouhaha over health care was filled with lies, exaggerations, half truths, urban legends, misunderstandings and, now and then, enough truth to keep the more strident talk show hosts from looking like utter fools – a formidable task by itself.
As a guy heading into his ninth decade, and after a eclectic background as a sailor, cryptographer, writer, political activist, and insurance salesman; I’ve picked up a stray idea or so. To start with, socialism doesn’t cause me to tremble as it does for those who claim it will be the end of all that’s good about the greatest nation on earth.
It’s been around since Daniel Boone bellyached about not having enough elbow room even after he’d traversed the Cumberland Gap. Early on someone noticed that a bit of control of people and business would be necessary if our thirteen disparate states were to comprise a nation. Adam Smith was tempered by John Maynard Keynes.
But the haves in our nation fought any sort of control tooth and nail. It was part of the cause for the greatest war in our history. But what is considered socialism has prevailed. And except for those who want to own other people, enslave women, or otherwise abuse the have-nots, it has been a pretty good deal.
But, the naysayers are claiming, health care is the most pernicious form of socialism. As always, there is enough truth in the claims to scare the bejabbers out of those who are afraid to look around the next corner.
It would ration care, but not as much as the insurance industry does today. Those folks with the red umbrellas, outstretched open hands and blue crosses not only ration health care with policy limits and exclusions, they get to decide who can get it in the first place.
But how does our current hodgepodge compare with the government provided health care of the other developed countries? It stinks! Their plan costs far less per person than in the U.S.A. By most measurable standards, the results are better too. Citizens of those countries live longer. Their babies have a much greater chance of surviving one year.
And ten percent of us are one illness away from bankruptcy. Our “health program,” is nothing more than a mélange of Medicare, individual policies, group policies, and one sparkling program – the program available for U.S. government employees, including military retirees, and their families. It does wonders for my wife and me.
The cost alone of this mess is reason enough to abolish the present system. When the deficits of one huge segment of our economy outstrips the rest, we are headed towards disaster. The math is so simple and so stark it can be seen through a tea bag.
And so it goes. We’ve had this much vaunted competition for decades now and it works – for the companies. They are not evil. They are simply doing what they have to do to make a profit and attract stockholders. They cut costs by eliminating the problem, those who get sick, or who are apt to.
It is time to recognize that it doesn’t work. Our congressional representatives need to stop imitating the teabaggers and shouting meaningless phrases. The health of our citizens and our nation is at stake. If we don’t put the country’s needs first, the problem will consume us.
//Keith Taylor is a retired Naval officer living in Chula Vista, Ca. He is also retired as an insurance broker. He can be reached at KRTaylorxyz@aol.com
Wrap...
HEALTH CARE BROUHAHA
by
Keith Taylor
Well, it’s over, or so it would seem. Even a compromise will leave us far behind virtually all other developed nations, each with a working national health care program. And, by every means of measure, all are much better off for having one.
Despite the claims, few of the objections started with the rank and file They were the result of a coordinated effort by powerful interests who have had a world of experience of swaying the opinion of a our nation.
Hence: “IT’S SOCIALISM” cried a teabagger, obviously elated to be on TV. He was so upset at the idea of having a national health care system in the land of the free he wanted to go back to the way America was in the beginning. I waited in vain for the reporter to ask if he wanted to explain to his wife why she wouldn’t be able to vote or own property? Or did he just want to buy a slave as people had in the beginning.
And so it went. The brouhaha over health care was filled with lies, exaggerations, half truths, urban legends, misunderstandings and, now and then, enough truth to keep the more strident talk show hosts from looking like utter fools – a formidable task by itself.
As a guy heading into his ninth decade, and after a eclectic background as a sailor, cryptographer, writer, political activist, and insurance salesman; I’ve picked up a stray idea or so. To start with, socialism doesn’t cause me to tremble as it does for those who claim it will be the end of all that’s good about the greatest nation on earth.
It’s been around since Daniel Boone bellyached about not having enough elbow room even after he’d traversed the Cumberland Gap. Early on someone noticed that a bit of control of people and business would be necessary if our thirteen disparate states were to comprise a nation. Adam Smith was tempered by John Maynard Keynes.
But the haves in our nation fought any sort of control tooth and nail. It was part of the cause for the greatest war in our history. But what is considered socialism has prevailed. And except for those who want to own other people, enslave women, or otherwise abuse the have-nots, it has been a pretty good deal.
But, the naysayers are claiming, health care is the most pernicious form of socialism. As always, there is enough truth in the claims to scare the bejabbers out of those who are afraid to look around the next corner.
It would ration care, but not as much as the insurance industry does today. Those folks with the red umbrellas, outstretched open hands and blue crosses not only ration health care with policy limits and exclusions, they get to decide who can get it in the first place.
But how does our current hodgepodge compare with the government provided health care of the other developed countries? It stinks! Their plan costs far less per person than in the U.S.A. By most measurable standards, the results are better too. Citizens of those countries live longer. Their babies have a much greater chance of surviving one year.
And ten percent of us are one illness away from bankruptcy. Our “health program,” is nothing more than a mélange of Medicare, individual policies, group policies, and one sparkling program – the program available for U.S. government employees, including military retirees, and their families. It does wonders for my wife and me.
The cost alone of this mess is reason enough to abolish the present system. When the deficits of one huge segment of our economy outstrips the rest, we are headed towards disaster. The math is so simple and so stark it can be seen through a tea bag.
And so it goes. We’ve had this much vaunted competition for decades now and it works – for the companies. They are not evil. They are simply doing what they have to do to make a profit and attract stockholders. They cut costs by eliminating the problem, those who get sick, or who are apt to.
It is time to recognize that it doesn’t work. Our congressional representatives need to stop imitating the teabaggers and shouting meaningless phrases. The health of our citizens and our nation is at stake. If we don’t put the country’s needs first, the problem will consume us.
//Keith Taylor is a retired Naval officer living in Chula Vista, Ca. He is also retired as an insurance broker. He can be reached at KRTaylorxyz@aol.com
Wrap...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Interstellar Archeology...is...???
From Secrecy News:
INTERSTELLAR ARCHEOLOGY
The search for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe should not only focus on detection of electromagnetic signals, but should also seek evidence of the physical artifacts that an intelligence life form might produce, a scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory suggested in a paper (pdf) last month.
"Searching for signatures of cosmic-scale archaeological artifacts such as Dyson spheres or Kardashev civilizations is an interesting alternative to conventional SETI [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, which searches for radio waves]. Uncovering such an artifact does not require the intentional transmission of a signal on the part of the original civilization. This type of search is called interstellar archaeology or sometimes cosmic archaeology."
All of this of course is quite speculative, not to say whimsical. "With few exceptions interstellar archeological signatures are clouded and beyond current technological capabilities," the author notes.
But the concept and the logic behind it are explained with pleasant clarity in "Starry Messages: Searching for Signatures of Interstellar Archaeology" by Richard A. Carrigan, Jr., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, December 1, 2009.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
INTERSTELLAR ARCHEOLOGY
The search for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe should not only focus on detection of electromagnetic signals, but should also seek evidence of the physical artifacts that an intelligence life form might produce, a scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory suggested in a paper (pdf) last month.
"Searching for signatures of cosmic-scale archaeological artifacts such as Dyson spheres or Kardashev civilizations is an interesting alternative to conventional SETI [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, which searches for radio waves]. Uncovering such an artifact does not require the intentional transmission of a signal on the part of the original civilization. This type of search is called interstellar archaeology or sometimes cosmic archaeology."
All of this of course is quite speculative, not to say whimsical. "With few exceptions interstellar archeological signatures are clouded and beyond current technological capabilities," the author notes.
But the concept and the logic behind it are explained with pleasant clarity in "Starry Messages: Searching for Signatures of Interstellar Archaeology" by Richard A. Carrigan, Jr., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, December 1, 2009.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Will Congress Ever Inquire?
From Secrecy News...
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON TORTURE: A ROAD NOT TAKEN
Last year the Senate Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Senator Patrick Leahy to establish a formal "commission of inquiry" that would investigate the conduct of the post-9/11 war on terrorism, including detention, rendition and interrogation policies. The record of a Senate hearing on the proposal was published earlier this month, but that seems to be all that remains of it.
"It is not enough to say that America is discontinuing the policies and practices of the recent past," said Amb. Thomas Pickering, one of the witnesses who testified in favor of the idea at the March 2009 hearing. "We must, as a country, take stock of where we have been and determine what was and is not acceptable, what should not have been done, and what we will never do again. It is my sincere hope that the commission will confront and reject the notion, still powerful in our midst, that these policies were and are a proper choice and that they could be implemented again in the future."
While commissions are rarely effective in advancing policy changes, they often serve to produce a detailed public accounting and an expanded documentary record, even when the subject matter is otherwise generally classified. From the Church Committee to the 9/11 Commission, such investigations have provided permanently valuable bodies of knowledge. And from that point of view, the failure to pursue a commission of inquiry to ventilate the persistent controversies of the recent past seems regrettable.
Opponents argued that the commission would inevitably turn into a partisan witch hunt; that it was unnecessary, since the Obama Administration had already pledged to chart a different course; that the Justice Department was responsible for ascertaining if any crimes had been committed, and prosecuting them; and that anyway, it was time to move onward.
"We really ought to follow regular order here," argued Senator Arlen Specter. "You have a Department of Justice which is fully capable of doing an investigation. They are not going to pull any punches on the prior administration."
Senator Patrick Leahy, who sponsored the proposal and convened the hearing, said he would only move the idea forward if there was a bipartisan consensus behind it.
"This idea for a commission of inquiry is not something to be imposed," Sen. Leahy said. "Its potential is lost if we do not join together. Today is another opportunity to come forward to find the facts and join, all of us, Republicans and Democrats, in developing a process to reach a mutual understanding of what went wrong and then to learn from it. If one party remains absent or resistant, the opportunity can be lost, and calls for accountability through more traditional means will then become more insistent and compelling."
No such consensus could be achieved, and the proposal was abandoned.
See "Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry," Senate Judiciary Committee, March 4, 2009.
Wrap...
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON TORTURE: A ROAD NOT TAKEN
Last year the Senate Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Senator Patrick Leahy to establish a formal "commission of inquiry" that would investigate the conduct of the post-9/11 war on terrorism, including detention, rendition and interrogation policies. The record of a Senate hearing on the proposal was published earlier this month, but that seems to be all that remains of it.
"It is not enough to say that America is discontinuing the policies and practices of the recent past," said Amb. Thomas Pickering, one of the witnesses who testified in favor of the idea at the March 2009 hearing. "We must, as a country, take stock of where we have been and determine what was and is not acceptable, what should not have been done, and what we will never do again. It is my sincere hope that the commission will confront and reject the notion, still powerful in our midst, that these policies were and are a proper choice and that they could be implemented again in the future."
While commissions are rarely effective in advancing policy changes, they often serve to produce a detailed public accounting and an expanded documentary record, even when the subject matter is otherwise generally classified. From the Church Committee to the 9/11 Commission, such investigations have provided permanently valuable bodies of knowledge. And from that point of view, the failure to pursue a commission of inquiry to ventilate the persistent controversies of the recent past seems regrettable.
Opponents argued that the commission would inevitably turn into a partisan witch hunt; that it was unnecessary, since the Obama Administration had already pledged to chart a different course; that the Justice Department was responsible for ascertaining if any crimes had been committed, and prosecuting them; and that anyway, it was time to move onward.
"We really ought to follow regular order here," argued Senator Arlen Specter. "You have a Department of Justice which is fully capable of doing an investigation. They are not going to pull any punches on the prior administration."
Senator Patrick Leahy, who sponsored the proposal and convened the hearing, said he would only move the idea forward if there was a bipartisan consensus behind it.
"This idea for a commission of inquiry is not something to be imposed," Sen. Leahy said. "Its potential is lost if we do not join together. Today is another opportunity to come forward to find the facts and join, all of us, Republicans and Democrats, in developing a process to reach a mutual understanding of what went wrong and then to learn from it. If one party remains absent or resistant, the opportunity can be lost, and calls for accountability through more traditional means will then become more insistent and compelling."
No such consensus could be achieved, and the proposal was abandoned.
See "Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry," Senate Judiciary Committee, March 4, 2009.
Wrap...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Selection of Books On The Way...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Sam Hawken's NORTH PASS, about the femicides in Ciudad Juares where over 400 Mexican women have been murdered or gone missing since 1993, to Pete Ayrton of Serpent's Tail, by Svetlana Pironko of Author Rights Agency (World English).
HORROR:
Diana Rowland's SECRET OF THE DEMON, three more books in the series that began with MARK OF THE DEMON, plus three books in a new urban fantasy series about a young woman who is turned into a zombie and takes a job as a morgue technician for easy access to brains, to Betsy Wollheim at Daw, in a six-book deal, by Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
THRILLER:
Sex crime prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington D.C. Allison Leotta's LAW OF ATTRACTION, about a 26-year-old lawyer determined to bring justice to men who brutalize the women they love; frustrated and determined when the man she prosecuted for beating the mother of his two children goes free and the woman turns up murdered, she pursues clues to the case, jeopardizing her career, her romance, and finally her very life as she uncovers the horrifying truth about the murderer, to Lauren Spiegel at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in Fall 2010/Winter 2011, by Elaine Koster at Elaine Koster Agency (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Camilla Gibb's THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY, set in modern-day Vietnam, a country on the brink of momentous change, uniting an old man, who has survived decades of political upheaval, with a young American returned to Vietnam in search of clues about her dissident father's disappearance, to Jane Fleming at Penguin Press, for publication in Winter 2011, by Anne McDermid at Anne McDermid Associates (US).
Steve Martin's novel WOMAN ONE, which "examines the glamor and the subterfuge of the fine art world" in New York, for publication in November 2010, and LATE FOR SCHOOL, for young readers, based on a song from his album The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, illustrated by C.F. Payne and including a CD, to Deb Futter at Grand Central, by Esther Newberg at ICM.
Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel Linden MacIntyre's THE BISHOP'S MAN, to Counterpoint, for publication in the fall of 2010, by the Cooke Agency International.
Foreign rights to Eduardo Hojman at Urano in Spain, by Martina Torrades at Pontas Literary & Film Agency; Sahinpasic in Bosnia; and Sezam in Serbia; on behalf of Random House of Canada and Shaun Bradley of the Transatlantic Literary Agency.
NONFICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Audrey Hepburn's younger son Luca Dotti's AUDREY AT HOME, written with Alessia Margiotta, an intimate off-stage look at the home life of one of the great film icons of all time, including anecdotes and memories from her family and friends, illustrated with never-before-seen family photographs, scrapbook memorabilia, and personal recipes, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by Larry Kirshbaum at LJK Literary Management (World English).
Business/Investing/Finance:
Rajeev Peshawaria's TOO MANY BOSSES, TOO FEW LEADERS, stories of global leadership practice at its best, drawn from the author's experience at Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, American Express and beyond, providing a new, synthesized understanding of leadership for the time-starved executive; containing the author's personal interviews with John Mack, Jacqueline Novogratz and CEOs internationally, to Emily Loose at Free Press, in a pre-empt, for publication in Spring 2011, by Lucinda Blumenfeld at Fletcher & Company (World).
History/Politics/Current Affairs:
Markos Moulitsas's AMERICAN TALIBAN, comparing how the Republican Party and Islamic radicals maintain similar worldviews and tactics, from sex to war, from culture to science and education; arguing that progressives hate radical Jihadists for the same reason they hate conservatives -- intolerance, militarism, disrespect for democracy, and a desire to impose their regressive mores on the rest of society, to Peter Richardson at PoliPoint Press, for publication in September 2010 (NA).
Humor:
Bloggers and journalists Andrea Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich's STUFF HIPSTERS HATE, based on their popular Tumblr site, an anthropological guide to the buzzed-about subculture, featuring analysis of the mating habits, habitat, theology, grooming practices and preferred entertainment of the modern-day hipster, with helpful graphs and charts to understand the elusive character of the trendy beast, to Kelly Reed at Ulysses Press, for publication in Fall 2010, by Jason Allen Ashlock at Movable Type Literary Group.
Writers behind Twitter's @FakeAPStyleBook Ken Lowery, Mark Hale, and the Bureau Chiefs' HOW TO WRITE ON THE INTERNET: An Absolutely Phony Stylebook, to Stephanie Chan at Three Rivers Press, at auction, by Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
Lifestyle:
Emmy-winning costume designer of Mad Men Janie Bryant's book on creating your own "leading lady" style, with advice and inspiration on everything from loving your curves to knowing which decade will give you the perfect vintage look, written with fashion journalist Monica Corcoran, to Karen Murgolo at Grand Central, for publication in Fall 2010, by Monika Verma at Levine Greenberg Literary AgencY.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Sam Hawken's NORTH PASS, about the femicides in Ciudad Juares where over 400 Mexican women have been murdered or gone missing since 1993, to Pete Ayrton of Serpent's Tail, by Svetlana Pironko of Author Rights Agency (World English).
HORROR:
Diana Rowland's SECRET OF THE DEMON, three more books in the series that began with MARK OF THE DEMON, plus three books in a new urban fantasy series about a young woman who is turned into a zombie and takes a job as a morgue technician for easy access to brains, to Betsy Wollheim at Daw, in a six-book deal, by Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
THRILLER:
Sex crime prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington D.C. Allison Leotta's LAW OF ATTRACTION, about a 26-year-old lawyer determined to bring justice to men who brutalize the women they love; frustrated and determined when the man she prosecuted for beating the mother of his two children goes free and the woman turns up murdered, she pursues clues to the case, jeopardizing her career, her romance, and finally her very life as she uncovers the horrifying truth about the murderer, to Lauren Spiegel at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in Fall 2010/Winter 2011, by Elaine Koster at Elaine Koster Agency (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Camilla Gibb's THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY, set in modern-day Vietnam, a country on the brink of momentous change, uniting an old man, who has survived decades of political upheaval, with a young American returned to Vietnam in search of clues about her dissident father's disappearance, to Jane Fleming at Penguin Press, for publication in Winter 2011, by Anne McDermid at Anne McDermid Associates (US).
Steve Martin's novel WOMAN ONE, which "examines the glamor and the subterfuge of the fine art world" in New York, for publication in November 2010, and LATE FOR SCHOOL, for young readers, based on a song from his album The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, illustrated by C.F. Payne and including a CD, to Deb Futter at Grand Central, by Esther Newberg at ICM.
Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel Linden MacIntyre's THE BISHOP'S MAN, to Counterpoint, for publication in the fall of 2010, by the Cooke Agency International.
Foreign rights to Eduardo Hojman at Urano in Spain, by Martina Torrades at Pontas Literary & Film Agency; Sahinpasic in Bosnia; and Sezam in Serbia; on behalf of Random House of Canada and Shaun Bradley of the Transatlantic Literary Agency.
NONFICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Audrey Hepburn's younger son Luca Dotti's AUDREY AT HOME, written with Alessia Margiotta, an intimate off-stage look at the home life of one of the great film icons of all time, including anecdotes and memories from her family and friends, illustrated with never-before-seen family photographs, scrapbook memorabilia, and personal recipes, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by Larry Kirshbaum at LJK Literary Management (World English).
Business/Investing/Finance:
Rajeev Peshawaria's TOO MANY BOSSES, TOO FEW LEADERS, stories of global leadership practice at its best, drawn from the author's experience at Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, American Express and beyond, providing a new, synthesized understanding of leadership for the time-starved executive; containing the author's personal interviews with John Mack, Jacqueline Novogratz and CEOs internationally, to Emily Loose at Free Press, in a pre-empt, for publication in Spring 2011, by Lucinda Blumenfeld at Fletcher & Company (World).
History/Politics/Current Affairs:
Markos Moulitsas's AMERICAN TALIBAN, comparing how the Republican Party and Islamic radicals maintain similar worldviews and tactics, from sex to war, from culture to science and education; arguing that progressives hate radical Jihadists for the same reason they hate conservatives -- intolerance, militarism, disrespect for democracy, and a desire to impose their regressive mores on the rest of society, to Peter Richardson at PoliPoint Press, for publication in September 2010 (NA).
Humor:
Bloggers and journalists Andrea Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich's STUFF HIPSTERS HATE, based on their popular Tumblr site, an anthropological guide to the buzzed-about subculture, featuring analysis of the mating habits, habitat, theology, grooming practices and preferred entertainment of the modern-day hipster, with helpful graphs and charts to understand the elusive character of the trendy beast, to Kelly Reed at Ulysses Press, for publication in Fall 2010, by Jason Allen Ashlock at Movable Type Literary Group.
Writers behind Twitter's @FakeAPStyleBook Ken Lowery, Mark Hale, and the Bureau Chiefs' HOW TO WRITE ON THE INTERNET: An Absolutely Phony Stylebook, to Stephanie Chan at Three Rivers Press, at auction, by Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
Lifestyle:
Emmy-winning costume designer of Mad Men Janie Bryant's book on creating your own "leading lady" style, with advice and inspiration on everything from loving your curves to knowing which decade will give you the perfect vintage look, written with fashion journalist Monica Corcoran, to Karen Murgolo at Grand Central, for publication in Fall 2010, by Monika Verma at Levine Greenberg Literary AgencY.
Wrap...
Sunday, January 17, 2010
More Interesting Books On The Way...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION
DEBUT:
Kenneth Harmon's BETTER NOT POUT: A Tale of North Pole Noir, in which a hard-boiled elf is framed for murder in a world that plays reindeer games for keeps, to Ben Sevier at Dutton, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
Tyler McMahon's HOW THE MISTAKES WERE MADE, about the rise and fall of a punk supergroup in Seattle in the early 1990s, narrated by its tough girl drummer, now known notoriously to fans as "the girl who broke up the band," to Hilary Rubin Teeman at St. Martin's, by Jennifer de la Fuente at Fountain Literary (World).
Peter Geye's YOU WILL COME SAFE FROM THE SEA, in which a father and son reconnect thirty-five years after the father survived the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat, to Greg Michalson at Unbridled Books, by Laura Langlie (world English).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Lawyer Adam Mitzner's untitled novel, pitched as in the vein of Scott Turow, in which a young New York City criminal defense attorney defends an old family friend who is not what he seems to be, to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery, in a very nice deal, by pre-empt, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Winner of the 2009 Governor General's Award Kate Pullinger's THE MISTRESS OF NOTHING, based on the true-life story of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid in nineteenth-century Egypt, to Danielle Friedman at Touchstone Fireside, by Anne McDermid at Anne McDermid Associates.
Dominic Smith's AMBER AND GLASS, which takes place in the final years of the 19th century amid Chicago skyscrapers and far-flung Pacific islands - and sets two young men and their cultures on a collision course, to Sarah Branham at Atria, by Wendy Weil at the Wendy Weil Agency.
Francesco Pacifico's THE STORY OF MY PURITY, the first translated novel by this Italian youth sensation, about an ultramontane, unhappily married Roman intellectual who falls under the spell of Jews, gays, MDMA, and beautiful women in nightclub (not exactly in that order), to Lorin Stein at Farrar, Straus, for publication in Winter 2012, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander on behalf of Kylee Doust (World English).
NYT bestselling author of COLD Bill Streever's HEAT, in which the author explores the science, history, and culture behind warmth, in an adventurous narrative that tackles fire walking, fever, thermonuclear weapons, the invention of matches, and much more, again to John Parsley at Little, Brown, by Elizabeth Wales at Wales Literary Agency (World).
Arthur Fleischmann with Carly Fleischmann's MY NAME IS CARLY: A Girl Discovers Her Voice, the story of a severely autistic child, diagnosed as mentally deficient, declared unreachable, and described as "a modern day Helen Keller," who was unable to control her impulses, sleep through the night, or communicate at all until she began typing messages to her parents on the computer, conveying to the world how it feels to be "locked in" and revealing her superior intellect, wit and determination to be an advocate for those like her told by her dad and interspersed with Carly's own writings, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in 2012, by Linda Loewenthal of the David Black Literary Agency (World).
Arthur Fleischmann with Carly Fleischmann's MY NAME IS CARLY: A Girl Discovers Her Voice, the story of a severely autistic child, diagnosed as mentally deficient, declared unreachable, and described as "a modern day Helen Keller," who was unable to control her impulses, sleep through the night, or communicate at all until she began typing messages to her parents on the computer, conveying to the world how it feels to be "locked in" and revealing her superior intellect, wit and determination to be an advocate for those like her told by her dad and interspersed with Carly's own writings, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in 2012, by Linda Loewenthal of the David Black Literary Agency (World).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Amy Huntington's SLEEPWALKING, centering around an American teenager attempting to rebuild her shattered life after the death of her parents, to Tara Weikum at Harper Children's, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2011, 2012, 2013, by Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English).
Translation: labramo@dystel.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Rutkow's OUT OF THE WOODS: How Trees Shaped America and America Shaped Trees, about how a land of "mightie greate wooddes" (according to an early explorer) grew into a great nation in no small part because of those very woods, showing how from birth to expansion to industrialization, in peacetime and in war, through ages of razing and clearing and conserving and preserving, trees have shaped the United States, and how, in turn, the people of America - settlers, explorers, builders, consumers, protectors, and scholars - have shaped trees just as surely, to Colin Harrison at Scribner, by Eric Simonoff and Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Freelance journalist (GQ, The Atlantic, Harper's, Time) Peter Savodnik's THE INTERLOPER: LEE HARVEY OSWALD INSIDE THE SOVIET PERPLEX, a carefully reported historical account of the two-and-a-half years JFK's assassin spent in the Soviet Union, showing that he was a tragic man in search of stability and meaning, whose experience reflected powerful emotional and political currents already coursing through the American consciousness, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a very nice deal, by Ted Weinstein at Ted Weinstein Literary Management (World English).
REFERENCE:
NYT bestseller BUY KETCHUP IN MAY AND FLY AT NOON author Mark Di Vincenzo's THERE'S WOOD IN YOUR TURKEY BACON: And 333 Other Fascinating Facts That Will Make You Smarter, Safer and Healthier, to Kate Nintzel at Harper, in a very nice deal, by Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency (World).
SPORTS:
NYT bestselling author Don Van Natta's biography of Sid Gillman, regarded by his peers as the most creative mind in football, and his three dozen disciples -- among them John Madden, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs, Dick Vermeil, Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, Bill Belichick, Jon Gruden, and Mike Tomlin -- who, by applying his revolutionary theories, have combined for an incredible twenty Super Bowl victories, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, by Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company.
Wrap...
FICTION
DEBUT:
Kenneth Harmon's BETTER NOT POUT: A Tale of North Pole Noir, in which a hard-boiled elf is framed for murder in a world that plays reindeer games for keeps, to Ben Sevier at Dutton, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
Tyler McMahon's HOW THE MISTAKES WERE MADE, about the rise and fall of a punk supergroup in Seattle in the early 1990s, narrated by its tough girl drummer, now known notoriously to fans as "the girl who broke up the band," to Hilary Rubin Teeman at St. Martin's, by Jennifer de la Fuente at Fountain Literary (World).
Peter Geye's YOU WILL COME SAFE FROM THE SEA, in which a father and son reconnect thirty-five years after the father survived the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat, to Greg Michalson at Unbridled Books, by Laura Langlie (world English).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Lawyer Adam Mitzner's untitled novel, pitched as in the vein of Scott Turow, in which a young New York City criminal defense attorney defends an old family friend who is not what he seems to be, to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery, in a very nice deal, by pre-empt, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Winner of the 2009 Governor General's Award Kate Pullinger's THE MISTRESS OF NOTHING, based on the true-life story of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid in nineteenth-century Egypt, to Danielle Friedman at Touchstone Fireside, by Anne McDermid at Anne McDermid Associates.
Dominic Smith's AMBER AND GLASS, which takes place in the final years of the 19th century amid Chicago skyscrapers and far-flung Pacific islands - and sets two young men and their cultures on a collision course, to Sarah Branham at Atria, by Wendy Weil at the Wendy Weil Agency.
Francesco Pacifico's THE STORY OF MY PURITY, the first translated novel by this Italian youth sensation, about an ultramontane, unhappily married Roman intellectual who falls under the spell of Jews, gays, MDMA, and beautiful women in nightclub (not exactly in that order), to Lorin Stein at Farrar, Straus, for publication in Winter 2012, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander on behalf of Kylee Doust (World English).
NYT bestselling author of COLD Bill Streever's HEAT, in which the author explores the science, history, and culture behind warmth, in an adventurous narrative that tackles fire walking, fever, thermonuclear weapons, the invention of matches, and much more, again to John Parsley at Little, Brown, by Elizabeth Wales at Wales Literary Agency (World).
Arthur Fleischmann with Carly Fleischmann's MY NAME IS CARLY: A Girl Discovers Her Voice, the story of a severely autistic child, diagnosed as mentally deficient, declared unreachable, and described as "a modern day Helen Keller," who was unable to control her impulses, sleep through the night, or communicate at all until she began typing messages to her parents on the computer, conveying to the world how it feels to be "locked in" and revealing her superior intellect, wit and determination to be an advocate for those like her told by her dad and interspersed with Carly's own writings, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in 2012, by Linda Loewenthal of the David Black Literary Agency (World).
Arthur Fleischmann with Carly Fleischmann's MY NAME IS CARLY: A Girl Discovers Her Voice, the story of a severely autistic child, diagnosed as mentally deficient, declared unreachable, and described as "a modern day Helen Keller," who was unable to control her impulses, sleep through the night, or communicate at all until she began typing messages to her parents on the computer, conveying to the world how it feels to be "locked in" and revealing her superior intellect, wit and determination to be an advocate for those like her told by her dad and interspersed with Carly's own writings, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, for publication in 2012, by Linda Loewenthal of the David Black Literary Agency (World).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Amy Huntington's SLEEPWALKING, centering around an American teenager attempting to rebuild her shattered life after the death of her parents, to Tara Weikum at Harper Children's, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2011, 2012, 2013, by Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English).
Translation: labramo@dystel.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Rutkow's OUT OF THE WOODS: How Trees Shaped America and America Shaped Trees, about how a land of "mightie greate wooddes" (according to an early explorer) grew into a great nation in no small part because of those very woods, showing how from birth to expansion to industrialization, in peacetime and in war, through ages of razing and clearing and conserving and preserving, trees have shaped the United States, and how, in turn, the people of America - settlers, explorers, builders, consumers, protectors, and scholars - have shaped trees just as surely, to Colin Harrison at Scribner, by Eric Simonoff and Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Freelance journalist (GQ, The Atlantic, Harper's, Time) Peter Savodnik's THE INTERLOPER: LEE HARVEY OSWALD INSIDE THE SOVIET PERPLEX, a carefully reported historical account of the two-and-a-half years JFK's assassin spent in the Soviet Union, showing that he was a tragic man in search of stability and meaning, whose experience reflected powerful emotional and political currents already coursing through the American consciousness, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a very nice deal, by Ted Weinstein at Ted Weinstein Literary Management (World English).
REFERENCE:
NYT bestseller BUY KETCHUP IN MAY AND FLY AT NOON author Mark Di Vincenzo's THERE'S WOOD IN YOUR TURKEY BACON: And 333 Other Fascinating Facts That Will Make You Smarter, Safer and Healthier, to Kate Nintzel at Harper, in a very nice deal, by Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency (World).
SPORTS:
NYT bestselling author Don Van Natta's biography of Sid Gillman, regarded by his peers as the most creative mind in football, and his three dozen disciples -- among them John Madden, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs, Dick Vermeil, Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, Bill Belichick, Jon Gruden, and Mike Tomlin -- who, by applying his revolutionary theories, have combined for an incredible twenty Super Bowl victories, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, by Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company.
Wrap...
Monday, January 04, 2010
A Million Pages of Secrets A Year....
From Secrecy News...
THE DEC 2009 DECLASS DEADLINE: WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN
There has been almost no criticism of the new Obama Executive Order on national security classification, which itself is kind of troubling.
For a full-throated denunciation, one has to turn to the outer periphery of Newsmax.com, which argues that declassification of historical editions of the President's Daily Brief "will render impotent one of the intelligence community's most vital tools." ("Obama Imperils Intel Briefings," by Theodore Kettle, Newsmax.com, January 3.)
A more cogent complaint, put forward by PRI's show The Takeaway on December 22, is that creation of a National Declassification Center "will actually delay the declassification of 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents," because these were already subject to a December 31, 2009 deadline, which has now been eliminated.
As previously reported ("New Executive Order Aims to Avoid Declass Deadline," Secrecy News, November 23, 2009, and by the Boston Globe, Nov. 29, and the Associated Press, Dec. 20), there was a December 31 deadline for automatic declassification of historical records that required referral to more than one agency, and this deadline created some urgency for completion of the new Executive Order, which superseded it.
But even if the deadline had come into effect, officials told Secrecy News, the affected pages would still not have been released to the public. They said this was so for several reasons.
First, no one knows where those pages are. There are perhaps as many as 100 million pages (not 400 million) that have been referred from one agency to another for declassification review, but they are not systematically tracked and so they could not be systematically released.
Second, Congress has effectively barred bulk declassification and disclosure by means of the 1999 Kyl-Lott Amendment, which required the painstaking review or certification of all declassified records to ensure that they do not contain any inadvertently released nuclear weapons-related information. (If Congress wanted to facilitate declassification of historical records, repeal of the Kyl-Lott Amendment would be a good place to start.)
Third, the National Archives lacks the capacity to process large volumes of declassified records for public release. Even if fully declassified, the affected records would take years to process for disclosure to the public.
In short, the declassification program is seriously messed up, and it has been for many years. The new National Declassification Center may help to straighten it out. Significantly, the President ordered that the present backlog of 400 million pages shall not only be declassified over the next four years but also "shall be addressed in a manner that will permit public access to all declassified records."
To make good on this commitment, the Obama Administration is said to be considering a significant increase in its request for declassification funding for FY 2011.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
THE DEC 2009 DECLASS DEADLINE: WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN
There has been almost no criticism of the new Obama Executive Order on national security classification, which itself is kind of troubling.
For a full-throated denunciation, one has to turn to the outer periphery of Newsmax.com, which argues that declassification of historical editions of the President's Daily Brief "will render impotent one of the intelligence community's most vital tools." ("Obama Imperils Intel Briefings," by Theodore Kettle, Newsmax.com, January 3.)
A more cogent complaint, put forward by PRI's show The Takeaway on December 22, is that creation of a National Declassification Center "will actually delay the declassification of 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents," because these were already subject to a December 31, 2009 deadline, which has now been eliminated.
As previously reported ("New Executive Order Aims to Avoid Declass Deadline," Secrecy News, November 23, 2009, and by the Boston Globe, Nov. 29, and the Associated Press, Dec. 20), there was a December 31 deadline for automatic declassification of historical records that required referral to more than one agency, and this deadline created some urgency for completion of the new Executive Order, which superseded it.
But even if the deadline had come into effect, officials told Secrecy News, the affected pages would still not have been released to the public. They said this was so for several reasons.
First, no one knows where those pages are. There are perhaps as many as 100 million pages (not 400 million) that have been referred from one agency to another for declassification review, but they are not systematically tracked and so they could not be systematically released.
Second, Congress has effectively barred bulk declassification and disclosure by means of the 1999 Kyl-Lott Amendment, which required the painstaking review or certification of all declassified records to ensure that they do not contain any inadvertently released nuclear weapons-related information. (If Congress wanted to facilitate declassification of historical records, repeal of the Kyl-Lott Amendment would be a good place to start.)
Third, the National Archives lacks the capacity to process large volumes of declassified records for public release. Even if fully declassified, the affected records would take years to process for disclosure to the public.
In short, the declassification program is seriously messed up, and it has been for many years. The new National Declassification Center may help to straighten it out. Significantly, the President ordered that the present backlog of 400 million pages shall not only be declassified over the next four years but also "shall be addressed in a manner that will permit public access to all declassified records."
To make good on this commitment, the Obama Administration is said to be considering a significant increase in its request for declassification funding for FY 2011.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Wrap...
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year's Eve, 2009...Seaport Village...
Just back from Seaport Village. What a mob scene...and plenty of Nebraska people with red shirts, proud of having won the football game yesterday, 33-0!!! In the rain.
No rain today...Sunny San Diego is back for the New Year's weekend.
So the back porch of the Seaport Deli was crowded. Took my coffee to a front corner table and proceeded to wait out the group on my usual table, right behind me in the back corner. Guitarist playing soothing melodies on the stage in front of the carousel, a group of six at the front tables to my left...a guy in black t-shirt on each end, 3 young women and one older man on the sides.
The guy at the end nearest me was a non-stop talker. The girls laughed at all the appropriate places. The guy at the other end talked whenever he could break in. So between the two of them, they totally monopolized the conversation.
But finally the group at my usual back corner table left and I moved over there. The porch emptied eventually and all was peace and quiet but for the steady murmur of voices from the plaza tables.
Almost finished with my coffee when a big guy comes out of the deli with his lunch and a beer, sits down at the table in front of me, and says, "I hope I'm not blocking your view." I had to laugh. Of course he was.
So I finished the coffee and as I left, the guitarist was playing "Over the Rainbow".
No place like Seaport Village.
Happy New Year everybody! :))))
Wrap...
No rain today...Sunny San Diego is back for the New Year's weekend.
So the back porch of the Seaport Deli was crowded. Took my coffee to a front corner table and proceeded to wait out the group on my usual table, right behind me in the back corner. Guitarist playing soothing melodies on the stage in front of the carousel, a group of six at the front tables to my left...a guy in black t-shirt on each end, 3 young women and one older man on the sides.
The guy at the end nearest me was a non-stop talker. The girls laughed at all the appropriate places. The guy at the other end talked whenever he could break in. So between the two of them, they totally monopolized the conversation.
But finally the group at my usual back corner table left and I moved over there. The porch emptied eventually and all was peace and quiet but for the steady murmur of voices from the plaza tables.
Almost finished with my coffee when a big guy comes out of the deli with his lunch and a beer, sits down at the table in front of me, and says, "I hope I'm not blocking your view." I had to laugh. Of course he was.
So I finished the coffee and as I left, the guitarist was playing "Over the Rainbow".
No place like Seaport Village.
Happy New Year everybody! :))))
Wrap...
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
A Selection of Interesting, Up-coming Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly....
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Leslie Daniels' CLEANING NABOKOV'S HOUSE, the spare, humorous and heart-wrenching story of a woman who, having recently lost her two kids in a custody battle, and left her beloved city behind for upstate, must creatively pull her life together before she can find her way, to Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (US).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Edgar Award-winner Eliot Pattison's ORIGINAL DEATH, a sequel to Eye of the Raven featuring Scottish-born sleuth Duncan McCallum who solves murders in colonial New England, to Charlie Winton at Counterpoint, by Natasha Kern at Natasha Kern Literary Agency (world English).
Liz Lipperman's debut DUCKS IN A ROW: A Casserole Lover Mystery, in which a woman with dreams of becoming a popular sports columnist gets stuck in a po-dunk town writing personal ads for a small time newspaper; when she's offered a chance to fill in for a local food critic off on sick leave, she jumps at the chance rationalizing that it's one step closer to her dream, but when a dead body is found underneath her apartment stairwell with her name and number along with it, she becomes the prime suspect, as well as, the main course on the murder menu, to Faith Black at Berkley Prime Crime, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2011-2012, by Christine Witthohn at Book Cents Literary Agency (NA).
WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:
Cecilia Grey's debut A LADY AWAKENED, about an iron-willed widow who makes a high-stakes bargain with a neighborhood rake to conceive a fraudulent heir and safeguard her liberty and inheritance, beginning the Blackshears series, to Shauna Summers at Bantam Dell, in a two-book deal, by Emmanuelle Alspaugh at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Nicole Kelby's untitled novel, about food, inspired by the life and passions of Auguste Escoffier, brilliantly innovative French chef and international culinary star who deeply loved both his wife, Delphine, and the actress Sarah Bernhardt, examines the idea of the private versus public life while illuminating the spiritual and sensual nature of food and the decadent joy of unruly hearts, to Amy Cherry at Norton, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
Author of THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE Julie Buxbaum's third novel THE MODERN GIRL'S HANDBOOK about a young woman's discovery of her grandmother's diary and the profound effect it has on her life again to Susan Kamil at Dial, for publication in 2012, by Elaine Koster at Elaine Koster Agency (US).
Laura Joh Rowland's THE RONIN'S MISTRESS and untitled Sano Ichiro novel -- the 15th and 16th in the series, surrounding a true incident in 18th century Japanese history wherein 47 ronin avenged their master's murder and became folk heroes before being forced to commit suicide, to Hope Dellon at St. Martin's, by Pam Ahearn at Ahearn Agency (World).
NON-FICTION...
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS:
Actor, activist, and bestselling author Michael J. Fox's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FUTURE, a book for graduates, presenting his accumulated wisdom and lessons based on his life experiences, including such topics as ambition, curiosity, flexibility, the importance of mentors, and the power of facing both successes and setbacks with open eyes, again to Ellen Archer at Hyperion, with Leslie Wells editing, for publication in April 2010, by Amanda Urban at ICM (world).
BIOGRAPHY:
Photographer John Abbott and jazz journalist and writer Bob Blumenthal's SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins, prepared by the only two people Rollins has trusted to chronicle his life, based on the saxophonist's classic album as emblematic of his oeuvre, and scheduled for release on the legendary musician's 80th birthday in September 2010, to Deborah Aaronson at Abrams, by James Levine of Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, with Paul Bresnick of Paul Bresnick Literary Agency representing Blumenthal (world).
Former NYT reporter and Fortune editor at large Richard Siklos's untitled account of Michael Jackson's career and the rise and fall of his fortune, as well as a look at the entertainment industry and the machinery of modern superstardom, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, in a pre-empt, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
COOKING:
Owners of Fleisher's Grass-Fed & Organic Meats and leaders of the anti-feedlot/conventional meat movement, third-generation butcher Joshua Applestone and Jessica Applestone's, with Alexandra Zissu, guide to sourcing, purchasing, butchering, and cooking grass-fed and organic meat—including poultry, beef, lamb, and pork, to Rica Allannic at Clarkson Potter, by Amy Hughes of McCormick Williams (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Former NYT reporter and investment banker and head of federal government's automotive intervention team Steven Rattner's OVERHAUL, the story of the intense 150-day struggle to save the American auto industry as both Chrysler and GM struggled to stay afloat, to George Hodgman at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010, by Amanda Urban at ICM (NA).
Alan Dershowitz's analysis of our legal system over the past 50 years, told through the lens of the pivotal cases in the author's career, as well as the legal decisions he has not personally been involved in that have shaped American jurisprudence and that will continue to forge our future, to Roger Scholl at Broadway, for publication in Spring 2012, by Helen Rees at the Helen Rees Literary Agency (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and advocate for women's rights and breast cancer research Meredith Baxter's "candid and revealing" memoir of her eventful personal and professional life, presenting a portrait of her life as an actress, mother of five children, and grandmother, and discussing her fight with breast cancer, her 19 years of sobriety, entrepreneurship, and her recent decision to come out and announce that she is gay, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, with Lorraine Glennon editing, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group, with Alan Iezman at Shelter Entertainment Group (world).
NARRATIVE:
Author and owner of downtown Manhattan's Pasanella & Son Vintners, Marco Pasanella's DON'T FORGET TO SPIT: Lessons from a Newfound Life in the Wine Trade, chronicling the birth of and daily life at his shop, along with a journey into the esoteric and often mysterious world of wine producing, distributing, selling, and consuming, to Doris Cooper at Clarkson Potter with Emily Takoudes editing, in a pre-empt, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projects (world English).
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Leslie Daniels' CLEANING NABOKOV'S HOUSE, the spare, humorous and heart-wrenching story of a woman who, having recently lost her two kids in a custody battle, and left her beloved city behind for upstate, must creatively pull her life together before she can find her way, to Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (US).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Edgar Award-winner Eliot Pattison's ORIGINAL DEATH, a sequel to Eye of the Raven featuring Scottish-born sleuth Duncan McCallum who solves murders in colonial New England, to Charlie Winton at Counterpoint, by Natasha Kern at Natasha Kern Literary Agency (world English).
Liz Lipperman's debut DUCKS IN A ROW: A Casserole Lover Mystery, in which a woman with dreams of becoming a popular sports columnist gets stuck in a po-dunk town writing personal ads for a small time newspaper; when she's offered a chance to fill in for a local food critic off on sick leave, she jumps at the chance rationalizing that it's one step closer to her dream, but when a dead body is found underneath her apartment stairwell with her name and number along with it, she becomes the prime suspect, as well as, the main course on the murder menu, to Faith Black at Berkley Prime Crime, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2011-2012, by Christine Witthohn at Book Cents Literary Agency (NA).
WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:
Cecilia Grey's debut A LADY AWAKENED, about an iron-willed widow who makes a high-stakes bargain with a neighborhood rake to conceive a fraudulent heir and safeguard her liberty and inheritance, beginning the Blackshears series, to Shauna Summers at Bantam Dell, in a two-book deal, by Emmanuelle Alspaugh at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Nicole Kelby's untitled novel, about food, inspired by the life and passions of Auguste Escoffier, brilliantly innovative French chef and international culinary star who deeply loved both his wife, Delphine, and the actress Sarah Bernhardt, examines the idea of the private versus public life while illuminating the spiritual and sensual nature of food and the decadent joy of unruly hearts, to Amy Cherry at Norton, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
Author of THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE Julie Buxbaum's third novel THE MODERN GIRL'S HANDBOOK about a young woman's discovery of her grandmother's diary and the profound effect it has on her life again to Susan Kamil at Dial, for publication in 2012, by Elaine Koster at Elaine Koster Agency (US).
Laura Joh Rowland's THE RONIN'S MISTRESS and untitled Sano Ichiro novel -- the 15th and 16th in the series, surrounding a true incident in 18th century Japanese history wherein 47 ronin avenged their master's murder and became folk heroes before being forced to commit suicide, to Hope Dellon at St. Martin's, by Pam Ahearn at Ahearn Agency (World).
NON-FICTION...
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS:
Actor, activist, and bestselling author Michael J. Fox's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FUTURE, a book for graduates, presenting his accumulated wisdom and lessons based on his life experiences, including such topics as ambition, curiosity, flexibility, the importance of mentors, and the power of facing both successes and setbacks with open eyes, again to Ellen Archer at Hyperion, with Leslie Wells editing, for publication in April 2010, by Amanda Urban at ICM (world).
BIOGRAPHY:
Photographer John Abbott and jazz journalist and writer Bob Blumenthal's SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins, prepared by the only two people Rollins has trusted to chronicle his life, based on the saxophonist's classic album as emblematic of his oeuvre, and scheduled for release on the legendary musician's 80th birthday in September 2010, to Deborah Aaronson at Abrams, by James Levine of Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, with Paul Bresnick of Paul Bresnick Literary Agency representing Blumenthal (world).
Former NYT reporter and Fortune editor at large Richard Siklos's untitled account of Michael Jackson's career and the rise and fall of his fortune, as well as a look at the entertainment industry and the machinery of modern superstardom, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, in a pre-empt, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
COOKING:
Owners of Fleisher's Grass-Fed & Organic Meats and leaders of the anti-feedlot/conventional meat movement, third-generation butcher Joshua Applestone and Jessica Applestone's, with Alexandra Zissu, guide to sourcing, purchasing, butchering, and cooking grass-fed and organic meat—including poultry, beef, lamb, and pork, to Rica Allannic at Clarkson Potter, by Amy Hughes of McCormick Williams (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Former NYT reporter and investment banker and head of federal government's automotive intervention team Steven Rattner's OVERHAUL, the story of the intense 150-day struggle to save the American auto industry as both Chrysler and GM struggled to stay afloat, to George Hodgman at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010, by Amanda Urban at ICM (NA).
Alan Dershowitz's analysis of our legal system over the past 50 years, told through the lens of the pivotal cases in the author's career, as well as the legal decisions he has not personally been involved in that have shaped American jurisprudence and that will continue to forge our future, to Roger Scholl at Broadway, for publication in Spring 2012, by Helen Rees at the Helen Rees Literary Agency (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and advocate for women's rights and breast cancer research Meredith Baxter's "candid and revealing" memoir of her eventful personal and professional life, presenting a portrait of her life as an actress, mother of five children, and grandmother, and discussing her fight with breast cancer, her 19 years of sobriety, entrepreneurship, and her recent decision to come out and announce that she is gay, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, with Lorraine Glennon editing, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group, with Alan Iezman at Shelter Entertainment Group (world).
NARRATIVE:
Author and owner of downtown Manhattan's Pasanella & Son Vintners, Marco Pasanella's DON'T FORGET TO SPIT: Lessons from a Newfound Life in the Wine Trade, chronicling the birth of and daily life at his shop, along with a journey into the esoteric and often mysterious world of wine producing, distributing, selling, and consuming, to Doris Cooper at Clarkson Potter with Emily Takoudes editing, in a pre-empt, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projects (world English).
Wrap...
Friday, December 18, 2009
FBI Linguist To Blogger....
From Secrecy News:
FBI LINGUIST LEAKED CLASSIFIED DOCS TO BLOGGER
An Israeli-American attorney who worked for the FBI as a translator pled guilty yesterday to unlawfully disclosing five classified FBI documents to an unidentified blogger last April, who then published information from the documents on his blog, the Justice Department announced.
In a signed plea agreement (pdf), Shamai Leibowitz stipulated that he had "knowingly and willfully caused five documents, which were classified at the Secret level and contained classified information concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States, to be communicated... to a person not entitled to receive classified information ('Recipient A'). Recipient A was the host of a public web log ('blog') available to anyone with access to the Internet."
"Recipient A then published on the blog information derived from the classified documents provided to Recipient A by Leibowitz. As a result of these disclosures, intelligence sources and methods related to these documents were compromised," the plea agreement said.
Recipient A was not named, and has evidently not been charged with any misconduct. Leibowitz was charged under 18 U.S.C. 798, which prohibits unauthorized disclosure of communications intelligence information.
"The willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to receive it is a serious crime," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "Today’s guilty plea should serve as a warning to anyone in government who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets."
Prosecutors credited Mr. Leibowitz for his "apparent prompt recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct" as well as his "timely notification of his intention to plead guilty." Based on those and other factors, they proposed a sentence of 20 months imprisonment.
Though it has no bearing on the case, Mr. Leibowitz happens to be the grandson of Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994), a renowned Israeli scientist, orthodox Jewish philosopher, polemicist and political activist.
The case was first reported in "Israeli lawyer & peacenik guilty of leaking FBI secrets" by Josh Gerstein in Politico, December 17. Laura Rozen, also writing in Politico, provided additional background and proposed speculatively that Leibowitz's disclosures were behind an April 16, 2009 story in the New York Times on NSA's "overcollection" of domestic intelligence.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
Wrap...
FBI LINGUIST LEAKED CLASSIFIED DOCS TO BLOGGER
An Israeli-American attorney who worked for the FBI as a translator pled guilty yesterday to unlawfully disclosing five classified FBI documents to an unidentified blogger last April, who then published information from the documents on his blog, the Justice Department announced.
In a signed plea agreement (pdf), Shamai Leibowitz stipulated that he had "knowingly and willfully caused five documents, which were classified at the Secret level and contained classified information concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States, to be communicated... to a person not entitled to receive classified information ('Recipient A'). Recipient A was the host of a public web log ('blog') available to anyone with access to the Internet."
"Recipient A then published on the blog information derived from the classified documents provided to Recipient A by Leibowitz. As a result of these disclosures, intelligence sources and methods related to these documents were compromised," the plea agreement said.
Recipient A was not named, and has evidently not been charged with any misconduct. Leibowitz was charged under 18 U.S.C. 798, which prohibits unauthorized disclosure of communications intelligence information.
"The willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to receive it is a serious crime," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "Today’s guilty plea should serve as a warning to anyone in government who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets."
Prosecutors credited Mr. Leibowitz for his "apparent prompt recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct" as well as his "timely notification of his intention to plead guilty." Based on those and other factors, they proposed a sentence of 20 months imprisonment.
Though it has no bearing on the case, Mr. Leibowitz happens to be the grandson of Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994), a renowned Israeli scientist, orthodox Jewish philosopher, polemicist and political activist.
The case was first reported in "Israeli lawyer & peacenik guilty of leaking FBI secrets" by Josh Gerstein in Politico, December 17. Laura Rozen, also writing in Politico, provided additional background and proposed speculatively that Leibowitz's disclosures were behind an April 16, 2009 story in the New York Times on NSA's "overcollection" of domestic intelligence.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
Wrap...
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Don't Go Near THIS Machine....
THIS is one huge & dangerous machine...I kid you not:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aja7gcgRMJU
If this link doesn't work, just google Monster Shredder.
Wrap...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aja7gcgRMJU
If this link doesn't work, just google Monster Shredder.
Wrap...
Friday, December 11, 2009
Some very different books on the way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
US Weekly film critic Thelma Adams's PLAYDATE, a suburban dramedy that follows the increasingly inappropriate entanglements of two families over four days as Santa Ana winds blow a brush fire toward the California coast, to Kathleen Gilligan at St. Martin's, by Rebecca Oliver at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
THRILLER:
John le Carre's new book, moving to Kathryn Court at Viking (his move to Viking UK was announced previously), for publication in 2010, by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown UK.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cynthia Ozick's FOREIGN BODIES, set in post-war New York, Paris, and California, is the story of a divorced schoolteacher who tries to resolve her brother's family dramas, leading to extraordinary and wholly unanticipated results, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in winter 2011, by Melanie Jackson at Melanie Jackson Agency (NA).
Wendy Wax's THE SAND CASTLE, the story of three women who lose everything to a Bernie Madoff-like scam, except a one-third share of a derelict beachfront mansion which they must somehow rebuild if they hope to do the same for their lives, to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley, for publication in 2011, in a two-book deal, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (NA).
AROHO Foundation Literary Gift of Freedom winner Summer Wood's WRECKER, about a young boy (called Wrecker) whose mother has been sent to prison, and the eclectic Northern California community that comes together to raise him in her absence, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, and Helen Garnons-Williams at Bloomsbury UK, by Dan Conaway at Writers House (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Profile of a Prodigy and Fischer intimate Frank Brady's ENDGAME: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer, a biography of one of the 20th century's most complex and tortured geniuses based on newly discovered documents left behind by the chess champion, who died in early 2008, exploring both Fischer;s mystique and his Howard Hughes-like descent into madness, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a very good deal, for publication in 2010, by Jeff Schmidt at NY Creative Management (world).
Rights: LKaplan@randomhouse.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of In the President's Secret Service Ronald Kessler's book on the FBI, to Mary Choteborsky at Crown, by Robert Gottlieb and Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
Foreign: KSchulze@randomhouse.com
Historian at the War College David Kaiser's HOW WE WENT TO WAR: Roosevelt, His Cabinet, and the Plan For Victory, based on previously untapped sources, pitched as a 'Team of Rivals' approach to the eighteen months of economic and military planning leading up to the US entry into WWII by examining FDR's leadership style and the struggle for consensus within his cabinet, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, by Christy Fletcher and Donald Lamm at Fletcher & Company (NA)
Martin Sandler's THE LETTERS OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, the first-ever published collection of JFK's correspondence to and from everyone from Khrushchev to schoolchildren, to be published for fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's death, to Peter Ginna at Bloomsbury, for publication in Fall 2013 (World).
MEMOIR:
New York magazine contributing writer Stephen Rodrick's THE MAGICAL STRANGER, about his father's fatal plane crash as a Navy pilot in 1979, as well as a contemporary story about the mission of Navy pilots, and the consequences that both have had for the families that are left behind, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by David McCormick at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency.
Debra Chwast and her son, painter Seth Chwast's AN UNEXPECTED LIFE, the heavily illustrated memoir of a young man with autism who has become a celebrated and award-winning painter, to Barbara Berger at Sterling, for publication in Spring 2010, by Faith Hamlin at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (World).
NARRATIVE:
Journalist Peter Zuckerman and Pakistan program director for the Mountain Fund Amanda Padoan's BURIED IN THE SKY, telling the story of the catastrophic K2 expedition of 2008 through the eyes of two Sherpa climbers who survived, and providing a window into the customs and cultures of the often-anonymous porters upon whom Western climbers depend, to Tom Mayer at Norton, at auction, for publication in 2011, by Dan Conaway and Stephen Barr at Writers House (NA).
NPR producer and contributor Charlie Schroeder's RE-ENACTOR: Learning About History One Bloodless Battle at a Time, in which an everyday guy humorously attempts to learn what he missed in history class by participating in fifteen different war re-enactments, from the Greeks to Vietnam, alongside the passionate hobbyists who live to recreate the past, to Meghan Stevenson at Hudson Street Press, at Jonathan Lyons at Lyons Literary (NA).
Wrap...
US Weekly film critic Thelma Adams's PLAYDATE, a suburban dramedy that follows the increasingly inappropriate entanglements of two families over four days as Santa Ana winds blow a brush fire toward the California coast, to Kathleen Gilligan at St. Martin's, by Rebecca Oliver at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
THRILLER:
John le Carre's new book, moving to Kathryn Court at Viking (his move to Viking UK was announced previously), for publication in 2010, by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown UK.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cynthia Ozick's FOREIGN BODIES, set in post-war New York, Paris, and California, is the story of a divorced schoolteacher who tries to resolve her brother's family dramas, leading to extraordinary and wholly unanticipated results, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in winter 2011, by Melanie Jackson at Melanie Jackson Agency (NA).
Wendy Wax's THE SAND CASTLE, the story of three women who lose everything to a Bernie Madoff-like scam, except a one-third share of a derelict beachfront mansion which they must somehow rebuild if they hope to do the same for their lives, to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley, for publication in 2011, in a two-book deal, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (NA).
AROHO Foundation Literary Gift of Freedom winner Summer Wood's WRECKER, about a young boy (called Wrecker) whose mother has been sent to prison, and the eclectic Northern California community that comes together to raise him in her absence, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, and Helen Garnons-Williams at Bloomsbury UK, by Dan Conaway at Writers House (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Profile of a Prodigy and Fischer intimate Frank Brady's ENDGAME: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer, a biography of one of the 20th century's most complex and tortured geniuses based on newly discovered documents left behind by the chess champion, who died in early 2008, exploring both Fischer;s mystique and his Howard Hughes-like descent into madness, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a very good deal, for publication in 2010, by Jeff Schmidt at NY Creative Management (world).
Rights: LKaplan@randomhouse.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of In the President's Secret Service Ronald Kessler's book on the FBI, to Mary Choteborsky at Crown, by Robert Gottlieb and Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
Foreign: KSchulze@randomhouse.com
Historian at the War College David Kaiser's HOW WE WENT TO WAR: Roosevelt, His Cabinet, and the Plan For Victory, based on previously untapped sources, pitched as a 'Team of Rivals' approach to the eighteen months of economic and military planning leading up to the US entry into WWII by examining FDR's leadership style and the struggle for consensus within his cabinet, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, by Christy Fletcher and Donald Lamm at Fletcher & Company (NA)
Martin Sandler's THE LETTERS OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, the first-ever published collection of JFK's correspondence to and from everyone from Khrushchev to schoolchildren, to be published for fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's death, to Peter Ginna at Bloomsbury, for publication in Fall 2013 (World).
MEMOIR:
New York magazine contributing writer Stephen Rodrick's THE MAGICAL STRANGER, about his father's fatal plane crash as a Navy pilot in 1979, as well as a contemporary story about the mission of Navy pilots, and the consequences that both have had for the families that are left behind, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by David McCormick at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency.
Debra Chwast and her son, painter Seth Chwast's AN UNEXPECTED LIFE, the heavily illustrated memoir of a young man with autism who has become a celebrated and award-winning painter, to Barbara Berger at Sterling, for publication in Spring 2010, by Faith Hamlin at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (World).
NARRATIVE:
Journalist Peter Zuckerman and Pakistan program director for the Mountain Fund Amanda Padoan's BURIED IN THE SKY, telling the story of the catastrophic K2 expedition of 2008 through the eyes of two Sherpa climbers who survived, and providing a window into the customs and cultures of the often-anonymous porters upon whom Western climbers depend, to Tom Mayer at Norton, at auction, for publication in 2011, by Dan Conaway and Stephen Barr at Writers House (NA).
NPR producer and contributor Charlie Schroeder's RE-ENACTOR: Learning About History One Bloodless Battle at a Time, in which an everyday guy humorously attempts to learn what he missed in history class by participating in fifteen different war re-enactments, from the Greeks to Vietnam, alongside the passionate hobbyists who live to recreate the past, to Meghan Stevenson at Hudson Street Press, at Jonathan Lyons at Lyons Literary (NA).
Wrap...
Saturday, December 05, 2009
A Film & Many Books On The Way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly
FICTION...
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Gemma Halliday's PLAY DEAD, pitched in the spirit of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which a woman who faked her death fifteen years ago to escape life as an assassin has been discovered by men who want her dead -- for good -- and must join one of her would-be killers to save her own life and stop a political assassination, to Allison Caplin at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, by Holly Root at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:
RITA finalist and Daphne DuMaurier award winner Nina Bruhns's romantic suspense trilogy in red, white and blue based on the ideals of Blood, Valor, and Honor each featuring a different branch of courageous men in uniform and heroines who keep our country safe and secure, to Kate Seaver at Berkley, in a three-book deal, by Natasha Kern at the Natasha Kern Literary Agency (World).
GENERAL/OTHER:
IN HOVERING FLIGHT author Joyce Hinnefeld's STRANGER HERE BELOW, in which young women, one haunted by the past and the other utterly fearless, forge a troubled friendship in Kentucky in the early 1960s, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Liv Blumer at The Blumer Agency (World).
FILM:
Karen McQuestion's A SCATTERED LIFE, claiming to be the first self-published Kindle novel to be optioned to film, to Hiding In Bed, with Eric Lake producing.
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Chief Risk Officer at Alliance Bernstein David Martin's RISK AND THE SMART INVESTOR, the critical rules investors must know in order to make the right investment and financial decisions, to Leah Spiro at McGraw-Hill, for publication in Fall 2010, by Jacqueline Flynn at Joelle Delbourgo Associates.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Political blogger Michael Wolraich's HOW BILL O'REILLY SAVED CHRISTMAS, examining the right wing's tactic of persecution politics and sifting through the delusions of prominent politicians and pundits who imagine a liberal plot to oppress white Christian conservatives; exploring the history of the trend, dissecting the conspiracy theories, and examining the implications for the future of American politics, to Bob Pigeon at Da Capo, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
Author of books including LOST CHICAGO and STANFORD WHITE'S NEW YORK, David Garrard Lowe's MAGNIFICENT ENEMIES: Richard Morris Hunt, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Epic Rivalry Behind America's Greatest Architecture, about these two titans who would find themselves pitted against each other, grappling to implement their vision -- and in the process, America's greatest and most memorable designs, from Central Park to Washington, DC's Mall, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in fall 2012, by Noah Lukeman of Lukeman Literary Management (world).
King's College, London professor of public policy, advisor to the EC, UN & UK, and broadcaster Alison Wolf's THE END OF SISTERHOOD: A New Divide among Women and How Female Success is Changing all our Lives, an investigation of the unintended consequences of women's rise in the workforce and specifically the knock-on effect (at home, in the workforce and in society at large) of the rise of "elite" women, using evolutionary psychology and behavioral economics to examine the growing divide between educated, often childless career women and other women, to Vanessa Mobley at Broadway, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (US). Foreign rights to Diane Turbide at Penguin Canada and to Sarah Caro at Profile, at auction, in her first acquisition for the list.
Translation: mail@zpagency.com
MEMOIR:
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE and Disney's THE REPLACEMENTS writer and current FAMILY GUY staffer Dave Ihlenfeld's DOG DAYS, humorously chronicling a post-collegiate year spent driving the iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile around the U.S. and Europe, to Iris Blasi at Union Square Press, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2011, by Jeff Schmidt at NY Creative Management (World).
SCIENCE:
Svante Paabo's ANCIENT GENES, hunting for the Neanderthal genome to answer the biggest question of them all: what does it mean to be human, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
UK:
Stephen Sondheim's two-volume memoir, FINISHING THE HAT, for publication in fall 2010, and LOOK, I MADE A HAT, for publication in 2011, to Louisa Joyner at Virgin, by Sara Menguc, on behalf of Helen Brann. US rights to Knopf.
Wrap...
FICTION...
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Gemma Halliday's PLAY DEAD, pitched in the spirit of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which a woman who faked her death fifteen years ago to escape life as an assassin has been discovered by men who want her dead -- for good -- and must join one of her would-be killers to save her own life and stop a political assassination, to Allison Caplin at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, by Holly Root at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:
RITA finalist and Daphne DuMaurier award winner Nina Bruhns's romantic suspense trilogy in red, white and blue based on the ideals of Blood, Valor, and Honor each featuring a different branch of courageous men in uniform and heroines who keep our country safe and secure, to Kate Seaver at Berkley, in a three-book deal, by Natasha Kern at the Natasha Kern Literary Agency (World).
GENERAL/OTHER:
IN HOVERING FLIGHT author Joyce Hinnefeld's STRANGER HERE BELOW, in which young women, one haunted by the past and the other utterly fearless, forge a troubled friendship in Kentucky in the early 1960s, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Liv Blumer at The Blumer Agency (World).
FILM:
Karen McQuestion's A SCATTERED LIFE, claiming to be the first self-published Kindle novel to be optioned to film, to Hiding In Bed, with Eric Lake producing.
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Chief Risk Officer at Alliance Bernstein David Martin's RISK AND THE SMART INVESTOR, the critical rules investors must know in order to make the right investment and financial decisions, to Leah Spiro at McGraw-Hill, for publication in Fall 2010, by Jacqueline Flynn at Joelle Delbourgo Associates.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Political blogger Michael Wolraich's HOW BILL O'REILLY SAVED CHRISTMAS, examining the right wing's tactic of persecution politics and sifting through the delusions of prominent politicians and pundits who imagine a liberal plot to oppress white Christian conservatives; exploring the history of the trend, dissecting the conspiracy theories, and examining the implications for the future of American politics, to Bob Pigeon at Da Capo, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
Author of books including LOST CHICAGO and STANFORD WHITE'S NEW YORK, David Garrard Lowe's MAGNIFICENT ENEMIES: Richard Morris Hunt, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Epic Rivalry Behind America's Greatest Architecture, about these two titans who would find themselves pitted against each other, grappling to implement their vision -- and in the process, America's greatest and most memorable designs, from Central Park to Washington, DC's Mall, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in fall 2012, by Noah Lukeman of Lukeman Literary Management (world).
King's College, London professor of public policy, advisor to the EC, UN & UK, and broadcaster Alison Wolf's THE END OF SISTERHOOD: A New Divide among Women and How Female Success is Changing all our Lives, an investigation of the unintended consequences of women's rise in the workforce and specifically the knock-on effect (at home, in the workforce and in society at large) of the rise of "elite" women, using evolutionary psychology and behavioral economics to examine the growing divide between educated, often childless career women and other women, to Vanessa Mobley at Broadway, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (US). Foreign rights to Diane Turbide at Penguin Canada and to Sarah Caro at Profile, at auction, in her first acquisition for the list.
Translation: mail@zpagency.com
MEMOIR:
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE and Disney's THE REPLACEMENTS writer and current FAMILY GUY staffer Dave Ihlenfeld's DOG DAYS, humorously chronicling a post-collegiate year spent driving the iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile around the U.S. and Europe, to Iris Blasi at Union Square Press, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2011, by Jeff Schmidt at NY Creative Management (World).
SCIENCE:
Svante Paabo's ANCIENT GENES, hunting for the Neanderthal genome to answer the biggest question of them all: what does it mean to be human, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
UK:
Stephen Sondheim's two-volume memoir, FINISHING THE HAT, for publication in fall 2010, and LOOK, I MADE A HAT, for publication in 2011, to Louisa Joyner at Virgin, by Sara Menguc, on behalf of Helen Brann. US rights to Knopf.
Wrap...
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Intel: Iran's Naval Forces....
From Secrecy News...
U.S. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE VIEWS IRAN'S NAVAL FORCES
A new report (pdf) from the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence describes Iran's naval order of battle, as well as the Iranian Navy's history, strategic options, and favored tactics.
"Today, Iran's naval forces protect Iranian waters and natural resources, especially Iran's petroleum-related assets and industries. Iranian maritime security operations guard against the smuggling of illegal goods (especially drugs) and immigrants, and protect against the poaching and stealing of fish in territorial waters."
"Additionally, Iran uses its naval forces for political ends such as naval diplomacy and strategic messaging. Most of all, Iranian naval forces are equipped to defend against perceived external threats. Public statements by Iranian leaders indicate that they would consider closing or controlling the Strait of Hormuz if provoked, thereby cutting off almost 30 percent of the world's oil supply."
The unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment was published on the Office of Naval Intelligence website, but last week it was abruptly withdrawn, along with another ONI report on China's navy. A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News. See "Iran's Naval Forces: From Guerilla (sic) Warfare to a Modern Naval Strategy," Fall 2009.
Wrap....
U.S. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE VIEWS IRAN'S NAVAL FORCES
A new report (pdf) from the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence describes Iran's naval order of battle, as well as the Iranian Navy's history, strategic options, and favored tactics.
"Today, Iran's naval forces protect Iranian waters and natural resources, especially Iran's petroleum-related assets and industries. Iranian maritime security operations guard against the smuggling of illegal goods (especially drugs) and immigrants, and protect against the poaching and stealing of fish in territorial waters."
"Additionally, Iran uses its naval forces for political ends such as naval diplomacy and strategic messaging. Most of all, Iranian naval forces are equipped to defend against perceived external threats. Public statements by Iranian leaders indicate that they would consider closing or controlling the Strait of Hormuz if provoked, thereby cutting off almost 30 percent of the world's oil supply."
The unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment was published on the Office of Naval Intelligence website, but last week it was abruptly withdrawn, along with another ONI report on China's navy. A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News. See "Iran's Naval Forces: From Guerilla (sic) Warfare to a Modern Naval Strategy," Fall 2009.
Wrap....
From Thrillers to Science..New Books Coming...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly....
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Susan Froderberg's OLD BORDER ROAD, about a girl who marries too young and suffers the consequences, in a lonely part of the American desert, to Pat Strachan at Little, Brown, by Liz Darhansoff of Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (World).
THRILLER:
Amanda Kyle Williams's THE STRANGER YOU SEEK, adopted by white southern parents as a child, a Chinese American former FBI profiler is a walking, talking, bundle of contradictions, constantly stumbling over herself as witnessed by her FBI career cut short by alcoholism; she is unofficially hired by her best friend and secret crush, an Atlanta police lieutenant, to find a serial killer wrecking havoc on the citizens of Atlanta, to Kate Miciak and Nita Taublib at Bantam Dell, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates (NA).
NYT bestselling author Ridley Pearson's new series featuring operatives for an international security firm tasked with high-profile corporate problem solving -- kidnappings, extractions, extortion -- that takes them around the globe, case-by-case, from Shanghai to Rio to Zurich and beyond, again to Ivan Held and Christine Pepe at Putnam, in a two-book deal, by Amy Berkower and Dan Conaway at Writers House (NA).
No. 1 NYT-bestselling author John Sandford's twenty-first novel in the Prey series featuring protagonist Lucas Davenport, for publication in Spring 2011, and the fourth novel in the Virgil Flowers series, for publication in Fall 2010, again to Neil Nyren at Putnam, with paperbacks from Berkley, by Esther Newberg at ICM.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Elizabeth Speller's THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN JOHN EMMETT, the first in a series of literary mystery novels set in England between World War I and World War II, to Tom Bouman at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a two-book deal, by Georgina Capel at Capel & Land (NA).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
R.L. Stine, ed.'s FEAR: 13 Stories of Mystery and Suspense, including original stories by Meg Cabot, James Rollins and Heather Graham, among others; a minimum of 50 percent of all profits from ITW will be donated to Reading Is Fundamental, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing and motivating children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most, to Maureen Sullivan at Dutton Children's, by Loretta Barrett of Barrett Books (NA).
Brazilian rights to Rocco, in a nice deal, by Nick Mullendore at Loretta Barrett Books, in association with Flavia Sala at International Editors'.
NON-FICTION....
BIOGRAPHY:
NYT reporter Jodi Kantor's book about the Obamas, following her recent Times magazine cover story about their marriage (and following fellow NYT reporter Rachel Swarns' recent sale of a book about Michelle Obama's family), to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, at auction, by Elyse Cheney at Elyse Cheney Agency.
Observer
Author of the bestselling lives of Charles Schulz and N.C. Wyeth David Michaelis's fully-rounded one-volume portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, the most admired woman of the 20th century, to David Rosenthal and Alice Mayhew at Simon & Schuster, for publication in 2015, by Melanie Jackson at the Melanie Jackson Agency (World English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Syndicated personal finance columnist Liz Weston's THE NEW MONEY BIBLE, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, in a pre-empt, in a good deal, by Stephen Hanselman of LevelFiveMedia (World).
Wall Street veteran and author Andy Kessler's untitled book, featuring twelve rules for getting rich - not moving money around rich, or soak the poor rich, but something that will create vast sustainable wealth - individual wealth AND societal wealth, to David Moldawer at Portfolio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/WORLD AFFAIRS:
NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep's deeply reported portrait of Karachi, Pakistan -- a city that illuminates the complexities, perils and possibilities of rapidly growing metropolises around the world, to Laura Stickney at the Penguin Press, at auction, for publication in Winter 2012, by Gail Ross at the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world English).
Historian and Verso editorial director Tom Penn's WINTER KING, GLORIOUS PRINCE: The Dawn of Tudor England, the first book to tell the full story of how the Tudors came to be, and of a dark struggle between Henry VII and his son Henry VIII, which gave birth to early modern England, to Bob Bender at Simon & Schuster, for publication in 2011, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander, on behalf of Andrew Kidd (NA).
Author of Selling of the President 1968 and Going to Extremes, Joe McGinniss's investigative narrative of Sarah Palin's significance as both political and cultural phenomenon and as an embodiment of the contradictory forces that shaped Alaska as it moved into its second half-century as a state, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, for publication in Fall 2011, by David Larabell at the David Black Literary Agency (World).
HUMOR:
Comedic writer and former radio host April Winchell's REGRETSY, based on the popular blog of the same name; featuring a collection of the oddest, most humorous, and most disturbing crafts the world has ever seen, along with commentary provided by the author, to Jill Schwartzman at Villard, for trade paperback publication, in a pre-empt, by Meg Thompson at LJK Literary Management (world English).
MEMOIR:
Former NYT reporter Katie Hafner's MOTHER DAUGHTER ME, the poignant and often humorous memoir of her experience living as a single mother with her 78-year-old-mother and 16-year-old daughter, to Susan Kamil and Beth Rashbaum at Random House, by James Levine at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (NA).
SCIENCE:
The Mozart Effect author Don Campbell and founder and CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies Alex Doman's HEALING AT THE SPEED OF SOUND, how the new science of sound and music can help us improve our lives, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, by Gail Ross at Gail Ross Literary Agency.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Susan Froderberg's OLD BORDER ROAD, about a girl who marries too young and suffers the consequences, in a lonely part of the American desert, to Pat Strachan at Little, Brown, by Liz Darhansoff of Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (World).
THRILLER:
Amanda Kyle Williams's THE STRANGER YOU SEEK, adopted by white southern parents as a child, a Chinese American former FBI profiler is a walking, talking, bundle of contradictions, constantly stumbling over herself as witnessed by her FBI career cut short by alcoholism; she is unofficially hired by her best friend and secret crush, an Atlanta police lieutenant, to find a serial killer wrecking havoc on the citizens of Atlanta, to Kate Miciak and Nita Taublib at Bantam Dell, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates (NA).
NYT bestselling author Ridley Pearson's new series featuring operatives for an international security firm tasked with high-profile corporate problem solving -- kidnappings, extractions, extortion -- that takes them around the globe, case-by-case, from Shanghai to Rio to Zurich and beyond, again to Ivan Held and Christine Pepe at Putnam, in a two-book deal, by Amy Berkower and Dan Conaway at Writers House (NA).
No. 1 NYT-bestselling author John Sandford's twenty-first novel in the Prey series featuring protagonist Lucas Davenport, for publication in Spring 2011, and the fourth novel in the Virgil Flowers series, for publication in Fall 2010, again to Neil Nyren at Putnam, with paperbacks from Berkley, by Esther Newberg at ICM.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Elizabeth Speller's THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN JOHN EMMETT, the first in a series of literary mystery novels set in England between World War I and World War II, to Tom Bouman at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a two-book deal, by Georgina Capel at Capel & Land (NA).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
R.L. Stine, ed.'s FEAR: 13 Stories of Mystery and Suspense, including original stories by Meg Cabot, James Rollins and Heather Graham, among others; a minimum of 50 percent of all profits from ITW will be donated to Reading Is Fundamental, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing and motivating children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most, to Maureen Sullivan at Dutton Children's, by Loretta Barrett of Barrett Books (NA).
Brazilian rights to Rocco, in a nice deal, by Nick Mullendore at Loretta Barrett Books, in association with Flavia Sala at International Editors'.
NON-FICTION....
BIOGRAPHY:
NYT reporter Jodi Kantor's book about the Obamas, following her recent Times magazine cover story about their marriage (and following fellow NYT reporter Rachel Swarns' recent sale of a book about Michelle Obama's family), to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, at auction, by Elyse Cheney at Elyse Cheney Agency.
Observer
Author of the bestselling lives of Charles Schulz and N.C. Wyeth David Michaelis's fully-rounded one-volume portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, the most admired woman of the 20th century, to David Rosenthal and Alice Mayhew at Simon & Schuster, for publication in 2015, by Melanie Jackson at the Melanie Jackson Agency (World English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Syndicated personal finance columnist Liz Weston's THE NEW MONEY BIBLE, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, in a pre-empt, in a good deal, by Stephen Hanselman of LevelFiveMedia (World).
Wall Street veteran and author Andy Kessler's untitled book, featuring twelve rules for getting rich - not moving money around rich, or soak the poor rich, but something that will create vast sustainable wealth - individual wealth AND societal wealth, to David Moldawer at Portfolio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/WORLD AFFAIRS:
NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep's deeply reported portrait of Karachi, Pakistan -- a city that illuminates the complexities, perils and possibilities of rapidly growing metropolises around the world, to Laura Stickney at the Penguin Press, at auction, for publication in Winter 2012, by Gail Ross at the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world English).
Historian and Verso editorial director Tom Penn's WINTER KING, GLORIOUS PRINCE: The Dawn of Tudor England, the first book to tell the full story of how the Tudors came to be, and of a dark struggle between Henry VII and his son Henry VIII, which gave birth to early modern England, to Bob Bender at Simon & Schuster, for publication in 2011, by Anna Stein at Aitken Alexander, on behalf of Andrew Kidd (NA).
Author of Selling of the President 1968 and Going to Extremes, Joe McGinniss's investigative narrative of Sarah Palin's significance as both political and cultural phenomenon and as an embodiment of the contradictory forces that shaped Alaska as it moved into its second half-century as a state, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, for publication in Fall 2011, by David Larabell at the David Black Literary Agency (World).
HUMOR:
Comedic writer and former radio host April Winchell's REGRETSY, based on the popular blog of the same name; featuring a collection of the oddest, most humorous, and most disturbing crafts the world has ever seen, along with commentary provided by the author, to Jill Schwartzman at Villard, for trade paperback publication, in a pre-empt, by Meg Thompson at LJK Literary Management (world English).
MEMOIR:
Former NYT reporter Katie Hafner's MOTHER DAUGHTER ME, the poignant and often humorous memoir of her experience living as a single mother with her 78-year-old-mother and 16-year-old daughter, to Susan Kamil and Beth Rashbaum at Random House, by James Levine at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (NA).
SCIENCE:
The Mozart Effect author Don Campbell and founder and CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies Alex Doman's HEALING AT THE SPEED OF SOUND, how the new science of sound and music can help us improve our lives, to Caroline Sutton at Hudson Street Press, by Gail Ross at Gail Ross Literary Agency.
Wrap...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
An Interesting Selection of Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Kamala Nair's THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN, the redemptive journey of a young woman unsure of her engagement, who revisits in memory the events of one scorching childhood summer when her beautiful yet troubled mother spirits her away from her home to an Indian village untouched by time, where she discovers in the jungle behind her ancestral house a spellbinding garden that harbors a terrifying secret, to Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world English).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Ace Atkins's two Quinn Colson novels, featuring an Army Ranger who returns to his rural Mississippi county to find it overrun by corruption and his uncle, the sheriff, dead -- the beginning of a trail that will lead him not only to the killers but to a new career, to Neil Nyren at Putnam, for publication in 2011 and 2012, by Esther Newberg at ICM (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
NYT bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby's LOVE, HONOR AND BETRAY, featuring the Reverend Curtis Black, the character Roby's readers most love to hate, moving to Karen Thomas at Grand Central, in a four-book deal, for publication beginning in Winter 2011, by Elaine Koster at the Elaine Koster Agency.
National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell's ONCE UPON A RIVER, a young woman's Huck-Finn-like river odyssey to find her future in the wake of her father's death, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, at auction, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Michael Stanley's THE DEATH OF THE MANTIS, the third Detective Kubu novel, in which a series of unexplained and apparently unconnected deaths hits the southern Kalahari in Botswana, leading to tension with the Bushman people and conflict in the Criminal Investigation Department, which Kubu tries to resolve while investigating the murders, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, in a nice deal, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world English).
Todd Gitlin's UNDYING, about a philosopher, who is diagnosed with lymphoma while struggling to write a book contending that Friedrich Nietzsche's thought stemmed from his ill heath, and who is also compelled to contend with a severely errant daughter, as well as the trauma of George W. Bush's 2004 victory, to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.
NONFICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of The Lady and the Panda Vicki Constantine Croke's THE WAY OF THE ELEPHANT, a biography of Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Williams, who was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his critical contribution to the Allied Campaign during the jungle fighting in WWII Burma; on the eve of the decisive battle for Burma, J.H. Williams attempts to rescue 53 elephants coveted by the enemy, as well as a large group of Nepalese refugees, to Jane Von Mehren at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Laura Blake Peterson at Curtis Brown.
COOKING:
Kit Wohl's THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION COOKBOOK, featuring the twenty recipients of the Chef of the Year Awards, with 100 recipes adapted from their kitchens to home kitchens; highlighted by personal profiles and culinary escapades, their inspirations and what drives a chef to the top; photography includes the restaurants, behind the scenes operations, menus and food, to Bill LeBlond at Chronicle, for publication in Fall 2011, by Maura Kye-Casella of Don Congdon Associates.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Washington Post foreign correspondent Blaine Harden's ESCAPE FROM CAMP 14, the inside story of the N. Korea gulag told through the tortuous journey of the only prisoner to be born in the camps and to have escaped and discovered freedom for the first time - opening a window into the enigma of the country, to Kathryn Court at Viking, by Rafe Sagalyn at The Sagalyn Agency (NA).
UK rights to Macmillan and French rights to Belfond, in a pre-empt.
Translation: bridget@sagalyn.com
Editor of the New York Review Books Classics series Edwin Frank's STRANGER THAN FICTION: The Life of the Twentieth Century Novel, a provocative cultural history, international in scope, of the development of then twentieth-century novel that is also a novel history of the twentieth century, looking at how the novel confronted war, atrocity, economic depression, and other political and cultural upheavals, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, with Lorin Stein editing, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (world English).
UK rights: marion.duvert@fsgbooks.com
All other rights: mail@zpagency.com
MEMOIR:
Korean-American journalist Euna Lee's THE WORLD IS BIGGER NOW: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Freedom, about her experiences, with fellow Current TV journalist Laura Ling, being captured, incarcerated, and condemned to hard labor this year in communist North Korea, detailing her 140 days of imprisonment and her efforts to protect her sources and the subjects of her reporting under interrogation, along with describing how her deep Christian faith and belief in family sustained her during her captivity, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, with Vanessa Mobley editing, by Jennifer Gates and Todd Shuster of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Kamala Nair's THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN, the redemptive journey of a young woman unsure of her engagement, who revisits in memory the events of one scorching childhood summer when her beautiful yet troubled mother spirits her away from her home to an Indian village untouched by time, where she discovers in the jungle behind her ancestral house a spellbinding garden that harbors a terrifying secret, to Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world English).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Ace Atkins's two Quinn Colson novels, featuring an Army Ranger who returns to his rural Mississippi county to find it overrun by corruption and his uncle, the sheriff, dead -- the beginning of a trail that will lead him not only to the killers but to a new career, to Neil Nyren at Putnam, for publication in 2011 and 2012, by Esther Newberg at ICM (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
NYT bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby's LOVE, HONOR AND BETRAY, featuring the Reverend Curtis Black, the character Roby's readers most love to hate, moving to Karen Thomas at Grand Central, in a four-book deal, for publication beginning in Winter 2011, by Elaine Koster at the Elaine Koster Agency.
National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell's ONCE UPON A RIVER, a young woman's Huck-Finn-like river odyssey to find her future in the wake of her father's death, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, at auction, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Michael Stanley's THE DEATH OF THE MANTIS, the third Detective Kubu novel, in which a series of unexplained and apparently unconnected deaths hits the southern Kalahari in Botswana, leading to tension with the Bushman people and conflict in the Criminal Investigation Department, which Kubu tries to resolve while investigating the murders, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, in a nice deal, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (world English).
Todd Gitlin's UNDYING, about a philosopher, who is diagnosed with lymphoma while struggling to write a book contending that Friedrich Nietzsche's thought stemmed from his ill heath, and who is also compelled to contend with a severely errant daughter, as well as the trauma of George W. Bush's 2004 victory, to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.
NONFICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of The Lady and the Panda Vicki Constantine Croke's THE WAY OF THE ELEPHANT, a biography of Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Williams, who was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his critical contribution to the Allied Campaign during the jungle fighting in WWII Burma; on the eve of the decisive battle for Burma, J.H. Williams attempts to rescue 53 elephants coveted by the enemy, as well as a large group of Nepalese refugees, to Jane Von Mehren at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Laura Blake Peterson at Curtis Brown.
COOKING:
Kit Wohl's THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION COOKBOOK, featuring the twenty recipients of the Chef of the Year Awards, with 100 recipes adapted from their kitchens to home kitchens; highlighted by personal profiles and culinary escapades, their inspirations and what drives a chef to the top; photography includes the restaurants, behind the scenes operations, menus and food, to Bill LeBlond at Chronicle, for publication in Fall 2011, by Maura Kye-Casella of Don Congdon Associates.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Washington Post foreign correspondent Blaine Harden's ESCAPE FROM CAMP 14, the inside story of the N. Korea gulag told through the tortuous journey of the only prisoner to be born in the camps and to have escaped and discovered freedom for the first time - opening a window into the enigma of the country, to Kathryn Court at Viking, by Rafe Sagalyn at The Sagalyn Agency (NA).
UK rights to Macmillan and French rights to Belfond, in a pre-empt.
Translation: bridget@sagalyn.com
Editor of the New York Review Books Classics series Edwin Frank's STRANGER THAN FICTION: The Life of the Twentieth Century Novel, a provocative cultural history, international in scope, of the development of then twentieth-century novel that is also a novel history of the twentieth century, looking at how the novel confronted war, atrocity, economic depression, and other political and cultural upheavals, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, with Lorin Stein editing, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (world English).
UK rights: marion.duvert@fsgbooks.com
All other rights: mail@zpagency.com
MEMOIR:
Korean-American journalist Euna Lee's THE WORLD IS BIGGER NOW: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Freedom, about her experiences, with fellow Current TV journalist Laura Ling, being captured, incarcerated, and condemned to hard labor this year in communist North Korea, detailing her 140 days of imprisonment and her efforts to protect her sources and the subjects of her reporting under interrogation, along with describing how her deep Christian faith and belief in family sustained her during her captivity, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, with Vanessa Mobley editing, by Jennifer Gates and Todd Shuster of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
Wrap...
Is This Justice?
From Secrecy News:
LEGAL ISSUES SURROUNDING MILITARY COMMISSIONS
The role of military commissions in adjudicating the cases of suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere was critically examined in two House Judiciary Subcommittee hearings last July, the records of which have just been published.
"My concern remains," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who chaired the hearings, "that we may be creating a system in which we try you in Federal court if we have strong evidence, we try you by military commission if we have weak evidence, and we detain you indefinitely if we have no evidence."
"That is not a justice system," Rep. Nadler said.
See "Legal Issues Surrounding the Military Commissions System," July 8, 2009; and "Proposals for Reform of the Military Commissions System," July 30, 2009.
Wrap...
LEGAL ISSUES SURROUNDING MILITARY COMMISSIONS
The role of military commissions in adjudicating the cases of suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere was critically examined in two House Judiciary Subcommittee hearings last July, the records of which have just been published.
"My concern remains," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who chaired the hearings, "that we may be creating a system in which we try you in Federal court if we have strong evidence, we try you by military commission if we have weak evidence, and we detain you indefinitely if we have no evidence."
"That is not a justice system," Rep. Nadler said.
See "Legal Issues Surrounding the Military Commissions System," July 8, 2009; and "Proposals for Reform of the Military Commissions System," July 30, 2009.
Wrap...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Getting Your Fish & Eating...What?.....
From KPBS.org:
http://www.kpbs.org:80/news/2009/nov/12/comparing-farmed-raised-fish-wild-caught/
Comparing Farmed-Raised Fish To Wild-Caught
Eating fish is an often-heard recommendation for a healthy diet. You've probably heard that fish, especially salmon, is rich in omega-3's an essential fatty acid. Are all fish created equal? We discuss the differences between farmed and wild-caught fish.
By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Thursday, November 12, 2009
Public Info:
Green Chefs, Blue Ocean
A comprehensive, interactive online sustainable seafood training program and resource center.
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. As more people become vegetarians, even greater numbers of people become ‘almost’ vegetarians, people who say they no longer eat red meat or chicken but limit the meat in their diet to fish. They’re called pescatarians. Even the rest of us are often urged by nutritionists to eat less beef and more fish because of its health benefits. But as the KPBS series “Food” continues, we learn it's not as easy to get away from the cow as you might think. Reporter Joanne Faryon is here to explain as her investigation into the food we eat goes underwater to examine the fish we eat. Welcome, Joanne.
JOANNE FARYON (KPBS Reporter): Hi, Maureen.
CAVANAUGH: And I’d like to introduce my other guests. Andrew Spurgin is head chef of Waters Fine Catering, and co-founder of the group Passionfish, which is dedicated to sustainable fishing and fish harvesting. Andrew, welcome. Thanks for coming in.
ANDREW SPURGIN (Head Chef, Waters Fine Catering): My pleasure. Thank you.
CAVANAUGH: And Don Kent is Senior Research Biologist, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute. Don, welcome.
DON KENT (President and Senior Research Biologist, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute): Good morning. Thank you for having me.
CAVANAUGH: And we invite our listeners to join the conversation. If you have a question about the fish you’re buying for dinner or a comment, how fish are farmed and raised, give us a call, 1-888-895-5727, that’s 1-888-895-KPBS. Joanne, let me start with you. What did you want to know when you started researching “The Fish We Eat?”
FARYON: Well, first we learned that it is an increasing part of our diet. The average American eats about 70 pounds of fish per year. Half of that fish is actually farmed fish and 80% of that farmed fish is imported. So we really wanted to know when I’m buying farmed fish, particularly salmon because salmon is one of the species that we consume most of, you know, what’s the difference really between farmed and wild? Is it as healthy? And, in particular, what about omega-3s because we hear a lot about omega-3 and that’s the healthy fat in salmon. Wendy Fry, one of our producers on this series spent a lot of time reading—really, it’s a debate—reading the one side and the other side. You have the people on the side of farmed salmon saying, no, you know, you get a lot of healthy omega-3s out of this, and then you have the other argument, no, it’s not the same nutritionally. Ultimately, it comes down to what are we feeding our farmed fish? That really can affect the nutrition.
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
http://www.kpbs.org:80/news/2009/nov/12/comparing-farmed-raised-fish-wild-caught/
Comparing Farmed-Raised Fish To Wild-Caught
Eating fish is an often-heard recommendation for a healthy diet. You've probably heard that fish, especially salmon, is rich in omega-3's an essential fatty acid. Are all fish created equal? We discuss the differences between farmed and wild-caught fish.
By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Thursday, November 12, 2009
Public Info:
Green Chefs, Blue Ocean
A comprehensive, interactive online sustainable seafood training program and resource center.
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. As more people become vegetarians, even greater numbers of people become ‘almost’ vegetarians, people who say they no longer eat red meat or chicken but limit the meat in their diet to fish. They’re called pescatarians. Even the rest of us are often urged by nutritionists to eat less beef and more fish because of its health benefits. But as the KPBS series “Food” continues, we learn it's not as easy to get away from the cow as you might think. Reporter Joanne Faryon is here to explain as her investigation into the food we eat goes underwater to examine the fish we eat. Welcome, Joanne.
JOANNE FARYON (KPBS Reporter): Hi, Maureen.
CAVANAUGH: And I’d like to introduce my other guests. Andrew Spurgin is head chef of Waters Fine Catering, and co-founder of the group Passionfish, which is dedicated to sustainable fishing and fish harvesting. Andrew, welcome. Thanks for coming in.
ANDREW SPURGIN (Head Chef, Waters Fine Catering): My pleasure. Thank you.
CAVANAUGH: And Don Kent is Senior Research Biologist, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute. Don, welcome.
DON KENT (President and Senior Research Biologist, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute): Good morning. Thank you for having me.
CAVANAUGH: And we invite our listeners to join the conversation. If you have a question about the fish you’re buying for dinner or a comment, how fish are farmed and raised, give us a call, 1-888-895-5727, that’s 1-888-895-KPBS. Joanne, let me start with you. What did you want to know when you started researching “The Fish We Eat?”
FARYON: Well, first we learned that it is an increasing part of our diet. The average American eats about 70 pounds of fish per year. Half of that fish is actually farmed fish and 80% of that farmed fish is imported. So we really wanted to know when I’m buying farmed fish, particularly salmon because salmon is one of the species that we consume most of, you know, what’s the difference really between farmed and wild? Is it as healthy? And, in particular, what about omega-3s because we hear a lot about omega-3 and that’s the healthy fat in salmon. Wendy Fry, one of our producers on this series spent a lot of time reading—really, it’s a debate—reading the one side and the other side. You have the people on the side of farmed salmon saying, no, you know, you get a lot of healthy omega-3s out of this, and then you have the other argument, no, it’s not the same nutritionally. Ultimately, it comes down to what are we feeding our farmed fish? That really can affect the nutrition.
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Lots of Books & A Film Coming....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Scholastic editor-in-chief and best selling YA author David Levithan's first adult novel, THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY, an alphabetically episodic narrative that traces the ups and downs of an urban romance, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor.
Dipika Rai's SOMEONE ELSE'S GARDEN, an epic tale of mothers and daughters and of love and rejection which explores the essence of abject cruelty and flawless goodness that defines the Indian soul, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in Spring 2011, by Diane Banks at Diane Banks Associates (NA).
UK rights to Clare Smith at Harper UK.
THRILLER:
Robotics engineer and How to Survive a Robot Uprising and Bro-Jitsu author Daniel Wilson's ROBOPOCALYPSE, about the fate of the human race following a robot uprising, to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2011, by Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency (world).
Film rights announced simultaneously to Mark Sourian and Holly Bario at DreamWorks, for "accelerated development," by Justin Manask.
Author of The Death and Life of Bobby Z and The Power of the Dog, Don Winslow's SAVAGES, a gritty, humorous, and drug-fueled ransom thriller set amidst the Baja Cartel in Laguna Beach, CA, for publication in July 2010, and THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR, for publication in July 2011, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster from Knopf, with Sarah Hochman editing, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
John Pippin's THE BLIND ASTRONOMER'S NOTEBOOK, set in 1798, with a young woman's return to Ireland and her discovery of a notebook left by her late father (a blind astronomer who spent his life futilely searching for a new planet), who becomes determined to complete her father's work, caught in a race against astronomers throughout Europe looking for the same planet while contending with a violent rebellion at home that threatens to destroy her father's observatory, to Nan Talese at Nan A. Talese, in a very nice deal, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
Annabel Lyon's THE GOLDEN MEAN, about the philosopher Aristotle's relationship with his student, the teenage Alexander the Great, to Diana Coglianese and Sonny Mehta at Knopf, at auction, by Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency (US).
Foreign rights to Roca Editorial, at auction, by Sandra Bruna; to Editions la Table Ronde in France, by Anna Jarota; and to Leya Brasil in Brazil, by Joao Paulo Riff.
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Crystal Allen's HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY, in which a 13-year-old vows to spend the summer changing his image from dud to stud, to Kristin Daly at Harper, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2011 and 2012, by Jennifer Rofe at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Author of RIBBLESTROP, Andy Mulligan's TRASH, a "nail-biter" about children who survive, against the odds, with a set of instincts and skills that just keep them breathing, pitched as a read for all ages, to David Fickling Books, at auction in the UK, and then in a pre-empt for the US, for simultaneous publication in fall 2010, by Jane Turnbull at The Turnbull Agency, and Ken Wright at Writers House acting on behalf of Turnbull (world English).
Spanish rights to Sigrid Kraus at Salamandra, in a pre-empt, by Sally Riley at Aitken Alexander.
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
NYT reporter Rachel Swarns' expansion of her recent front page story on First Lady Michelle Obama's sweeping family history, describing the first white ancestors in her family tree and tracing the earliest steps of her clan as they journeyed over five generations from slavery to the White House, to Dawn Davis at Amistad, in a pre-empt, by Flip Brophy at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
COOKING:
Executive chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara's ELEVEN MADISON PARK: The Cookbook, with 100 seasonally arranged recipes and behind-the-scenes vignettes highlighting the philosophy of continual reinvention at the dining spot recently described by Frank Bruni as "among the most alluring and impressive restaurants in New York" in a coveted four-star review, to Michael Sand at Little, Brown, in a good deal, by David Black at the David Black Literary Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Andrew Feinstein's MERCHANTS OF DEATH: Inside the Global Arms Trade, the global arms industry accounts for 40% of all corruption in all world trade and is shrouded in secrecy; investigating how the international arms trade operates and what motivates those in the business and the governments who do business with them, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Sarah Hunt Cooke at Penguin UK (US).
sarah.huntcooke@uk.penguingroup.com
NYT bestselling author of WORSE THAN WATERGATE, CONSERVATIVES WITHOUT CONSCIENCE John Dean's next book, again to Rick Kot at Viking, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world).
Journalist Jay Bahadur's THE PIRATES OF PUNTLAND: An Inside Look at the World's Last Buccaneers, drawing on the author's travels into the heart of Somalia, to the autonomous but internationally unrecognized region of Puntland, to give the world a better understanding of the human beings and politics behind Somalia's notorious sea pirates, to Jim Gifford at Harper Canada, Vicky Wilson at Pantheon, Daniel Crewe at Profile, at auction, and Henry Rosenbloom at Scribe, for Australian and New Zealand rights, for publication in Fall 2010, by Rick Broadhead at Rick Broadhead & Associates.
MEMOIR:
Former NBC president of entertainment Warren Littlefield's memoir, documenting his tenure overseeing the Must-See TV years at NBC, moving a floundering network to prime-time dominance, written with author and screenwriter T.R. Pearson, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, by David Black of the David Black Literary Agency (NA).
SCIENCE:
Rebecca Costa's first book, THE WATCHMAN'S RATTLE: A New Way to Understand Complexity, Collapse and Correction, positing that escalating complexity has led to conditions -- worldwide recession, global warming, pandemic viruses -- that have outpaced our actual ability to manage them, comparing our current state to the "cognitive gridlock" that brought down the Mayans, Romans, the Ming Dynasty, Byzantine Empire, along with scientific evidence that the human brain can be retrained to comprehend, analyze, and resolve massively complex problems, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, for publication in fall 2010, by Arthur Klebanoff at the Scott Meredith Agency and David Nelson at Waterside Productions.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Scholastic editor-in-chief and best selling YA author David Levithan's first adult novel, THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY, an alphabetically episodic narrative that traces the ups and downs of an urban romance, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor.
Dipika Rai's SOMEONE ELSE'S GARDEN, an epic tale of mothers and daughters and of love and rejection which explores the essence of abject cruelty and flawless goodness that defines the Indian soul, to Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in Spring 2011, by Diane Banks at Diane Banks Associates (NA).
UK rights to Clare Smith at Harper UK.
THRILLER:
Robotics engineer and How to Survive a Robot Uprising and Bro-Jitsu author Daniel Wilson's ROBOPOCALYPSE, about the fate of the human race following a robot uprising, to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2011, by Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency (world).
Film rights announced simultaneously to Mark Sourian and Holly Bario at DreamWorks, for "accelerated development," by Justin Manask.
Author of The Death and Life of Bobby Z and The Power of the Dog, Don Winslow's SAVAGES, a gritty, humorous, and drug-fueled ransom thriller set amidst the Baja Cartel in Laguna Beach, CA, for publication in July 2010, and THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR, for publication in July 2011, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster from Knopf, with Sarah Hochman editing, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
John Pippin's THE BLIND ASTRONOMER'S NOTEBOOK, set in 1798, with a young woman's return to Ireland and her discovery of a notebook left by her late father (a blind astronomer who spent his life futilely searching for a new planet), who becomes determined to complete her father's work, caught in a race against astronomers throughout Europe looking for the same planet while contending with a violent rebellion at home that threatens to destroy her father's observatory, to Nan Talese at Nan A. Talese, in a very nice deal, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
Annabel Lyon's THE GOLDEN MEAN, about the philosopher Aristotle's relationship with his student, the teenage Alexander the Great, to Diana Coglianese and Sonny Mehta at Knopf, at auction, by Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency (US).
Foreign rights to Roca Editorial, at auction, by Sandra Bruna; to Editions la Table Ronde in France, by Anna Jarota; and to Leya Brasil in Brazil, by Joao Paulo Riff.
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Crystal Allen's HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY, in which a 13-year-old vows to spend the summer changing his image from dud to stud, to Kristin Daly at Harper, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2011 and 2012, by Jennifer Rofe at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Author of RIBBLESTROP, Andy Mulligan's TRASH, a "nail-biter" about children who survive, against the odds, with a set of instincts and skills that just keep them breathing, pitched as a read for all ages, to David Fickling Books, at auction in the UK, and then in a pre-empt for the US, for simultaneous publication in fall 2010, by Jane Turnbull at The Turnbull Agency, and Ken Wright at Writers House acting on behalf of Turnbull (world English).
Spanish rights to Sigrid Kraus at Salamandra, in a pre-empt, by Sally Riley at Aitken Alexander.
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
NYT reporter Rachel Swarns' expansion of her recent front page story on First Lady Michelle Obama's sweeping family history, describing the first white ancestors in her family tree and tracing the earliest steps of her clan as they journeyed over five generations from slavery to the White House, to Dawn Davis at Amistad, in a pre-empt, by Flip Brophy at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
COOKING:
Executive chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara's ELEVEN MADISON PARK: The Cookbook, with 100 seasonally arranged recipes and behind-the-scenes vignettes highlighting the philosophy of continual reinvention at the dining spot recently described by Frank Bruni as "among the most alluring and impressive restaurants in New York" in a coveted four-star review, to Michael Sand at Little, Brown, in a good deal, by David Black at the David Black Literary Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Andrew Feinstein's MERCHANTS OF DEATH: Inside the Global Arms Trade, the global arms industry accounts for 40% of all corruption in all world trade and is shrouded in secrecy; investigating how the international arms trade operates and what motivates those in the business and the governments who do business with them, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Sarah Hunt Cooke at Penguin UK (US).
sarah.huntcooke@uk.penguingroup.com
NYT bestselling author of WORSE THAN WATERGATE, CONSERVATIVES WITHOUT CONSCIENCE John Dean's next book, again to Rick Kot at Viking, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world).
Journalist Jay Bahadur's THE PIRATES OF PUNTLAND: An Inside Look at the World's Last Buccaneers, drawing on the author's travels into the heart of Somalia, to the autonomous but internationally unrecognized region of Puntland, to give the world a better understanding of the human beings and politics behind Somalia's notorious sea pirates, to Jim Gifford at Harper Canada, Vicky Wilson at Pantheon, Daniel Crewe at Profile, at auction, and Henry Rosenbloom at Scribe, for Australian and New Zealand rights, for publication in Fall 2010, by Rick Broadhead at Rick Broadhead & Associates.
MEMOIR:
Former NBC president of entertainment Warren Littlefield's memoir, documenting his tenure overseeing the Must-See TV years at NBC, moving a floundering network to prime-time dominance, written with author and screenwriter T.R. Pearson, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, by David Black of the David Black Literary Agency (NA).
SCIENCE:
Rebecca Costa's first book, THE WATCHMAN'S RATTLE: A New Way to Understand Complexity, Collapse and Correction, positing that escalating complexity has led to conditions -- worldwide recession, global warming, pandemic viruses -- that have outpaced our actual ability to manage them, comparing our current state to the "cognitive gridlock" that brought down the Mayans, Romans, the Ming Dynasty, Byzantine Empire, along with scientific evidence that the human brain can be retrained to comprehend, analyze, and resolve massively complex problems, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, for publication in fall 2010, by Arthur Klebanoff at the Scott Meredith Agency and David Nelson at Waterside Productions.
Wrap...
Friday, November 06, 2009
McGovern on Abe Lincoln...
From KPBS San Diego:
By Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. Many books have been written about the life of Abraham Lincoln and many of them have been quite daunting in both length and scope. A new volume, part of the American Presidents Series, manages to present the life, challenges, controversies, victories and tragedies of Lincoln in a clear and compact format. Perhaps that's because the author, my guest Senator George McGovern, after a lifetime in politics, has a unique insight into some of the challenges and hard decisions Lincoln was called upon to make. George McGovern represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to 1981. He is perhaps best known as the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972. Senator McGovern is also an historian, the author of more than a dozen books and, along with former Senator Bob Dole, the recipient of the 2008 World Food Prize for his work on an international school food program. And, as I mentioned, his latest book is titled “Abraham Lincoln.” It's a pleasure to welcome you, Senator McGovern, to These Days.
SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (Author): It’s good to be on your program.
CAVANAUGH: Thank you. Now since you’re an historian, before you wrote this book, you must’ve thought you knew quite a lot about President Lincoln. I’m wondering, did you learn things researching this book that surprised you?
MCGOVERN: Yes, I wouldn’t say any dramatic things that brought me right out of my chair but I did learn the depth of his character better than I had understood it before. He was a great man. He was not only a great president—some historians say our greatest president—but he was a very great human being, overcame incredible handicaps in order to win the White House and then preside, I think, brilliantly as President of the United States.
CAVANAUGH: Now the story, the great story, of Lincoln, his birth in the log cabin, his struggles with his own personal melancholy, his compassion during the war, this has inspired so many Americans, including our current president. And what is it that you think about the way President Lincoln handled adversity that we find so compelling?
MCGOVERN: Well, who would’ve thought that a man with only two years of formal education, even that was hit or miss at times, sometimes dependent on traveling teachers that would visit the village, who would’ve guessed that he could emerge with enough wisdom to become a great President of the United States. But in that less than two years of education that he had, he learned to read and he learned to write, and he never quit. For the rest of his life, he was reading, reading, reading, reading. Every time he could get his hands on a book, he devoured it. His father couldn’t accept that. His father was a hardworking farmer, and that’s a tough job. I know that, having grown up in South Dakota. But when he would assign a task to young Abe Lincoln, frequently an hour later he’d find him leaning up against a tree reading a book, and it drove him wild. The differences between the two men became so intense that Lincoln left home and didn’t even attend his father’s funeral.
.http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/04/senator-george-mcgovern-talks-about-politics-past-/
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
By Maureen Cavanaugh
These Days | Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. Many books have been written about the life of Abraham Lincoln and many of them have been quite daunting in both length and scope. A new volume, part of the American Presidents Series, manages to present the life, challenges, controversies, victories and tragedies of Lincoln in a clear and compact format. Perhaps that's because the author, my guest Senator George McGovern, after a lifetime in politics, has a unique insight into some of the challenges and hard decisions Lincoln was called upon to make. George McGovern represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to 1981. He is perhaps best known as the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972. Senator McGovern is also an historian, the author of more than a dozen books and, along with former Senator Bob Dole, the recipient of the 2008 World Food Prize for his work on an international school food program. And, as I mentioned, his latest book is titled “Abraham Lincoln.” It's a pleasure to welcome you, Senator McGovern, to These Days.
SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (Author): It’s good to be on your program.
CAVANAUGH: Thank you. Now since you’re an historian, before you wrote this book, you must’ve thought you knew quite a lot about President Lincoln. I’m wondering, did you learn things researching this book that surprised you?
MCGOVERN: Yes, I wouldn’t say any dramatic things that brought me right out of my chair but I did learn the depth of his character better than I had understood it before. He was a great man. He was not only a great president—some historians say our greatest president—but he was a very great human being, overcame incredible handicaps in order to win the White House and then preside, I think, brilliantly as President of the United States.
CAVANAUGH: Now the story, the great story, of Lincoln, his birth in the log cabin, his struggles with his own personal melancholy, his compassion during the war, this has inspired so many Americans, including our current president. And what is it that you think about the way President Lincoln handled adversity that we find so compelling?
MCGOVERN: Well, who would’ve thought that a man with only two years of formal education, even that was hit or miss at times, sometimes dependent on traveling teachers that would visit the village, who would’ve guessed that he could emerge with enough wisdom to become a great President of the United States. But in that less than two years of education that he had, he learned to read and he learned to write, and he never quit. For the rest of his life, he was reading, reading, reading, reading. Every time he could get his hands on a book, he devoured it. His father couldn’t accept that. His father was a hardworking farmer, and that’s a tough job. I know that, having grown up in South Dakota. But when he would assign a task to young Abe Lincoln, frequently an hour later he’d find him leaning up against a tree reading a book, and it drove him wild. The differences between the two men became so intense that Lincoln left home and didn’t even attend his father’s funeral.
.http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/04/senator-george-mcgovern-talks-about-politics-past-/
[Use link above to continue reading}
Wrap...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Terrific Read on North Korea....
)
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/29/officials-us-and-north-korea-hold-dialogue-ucsd/
Wrap...
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/29/officials-us-and-north-korea-hold-dialogue-ucsd/
Wrap...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Keeping An Eye On Intelligence .....
From Secrecy News...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
Friday, October 16, 2009
The President PROPOSES....
...but the Congress disposes:
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Secrets Plus....
From Secrecy News:
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Big Batch of Books & Some films.....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
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