Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of modified Grimms watching me very carefully… in the NEW new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

Russell Hornsby as Hank Griffin, David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt on NBC's "Grimm" (Photo by: Scott Green/NBC)

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media iPhone/Android App • Stitcher

Order a sneak peak of Grimm from Amazon.com by clicking the image above

David Giuntoli isn’t a household name in every American household… so far.

But the star of NBC’s fairytale-derived horror story, “Grimm,” is recognized in just enough A.C. Nielsen monitored homes to make his show this season’s quiet breakthrough.

As a Portland, Oregon, detective named Nick Burkhardt, Giuntoli plays the latest in a long line of supernatural detectives policing the strange creatures in his town.

DAVID GIUNTOLI audio excerpt: “For the longest time, my ancestors would slay these monsters, almost at will, and the monsters would try to kill us. But we’ve entered a day where there is Pilates and psychotherapists. So not all of these monsters give in to their cravings.” 

David Giuntoli interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 21, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with actor DAVID GIUNTOLI, star of NBC’s GRIMM, by clicking the audio player above!

It’s a wild show, packed with drama, genre-bending storylines, special effects, old-fashioned latex appliances, and smoldering sexuality. It combines elements of “The X-Files,” “Lost” and even “Chuck” – at least in the sense that it’s kind of an underground favorite hiding in plain sight on network TV.

The good news is that even if you’re just joining it, “Grimm” isn’t difficult to catch up on. The writers have find a smart balance between stand alone stories and ongoing narrative so you could watch any episode – the show airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC and previous episodes are available for free on NBC.com – and know what it’s about.

This is not Giuntoli’s first genre role, either. Early in his acting career he made appearances in “The Ghost Whisperer” and “Veronica Mars.”

David Giuntoli IMDB • Facebook • Twitter

More Mr. Media® interviews with the cast of Grimm: Russell Hornsby • Silas Weir Mitchell • Sasha Roiz • Reggie Lee

Bob Andelman is the host and producer of Mr. Media® Interviews. He is also the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of guys and gals who thought they knew every trick in the book until they saw the illustrations in Hot Sex… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media iPhone/Android App • Stitcher

Order from Amazon.com by clicking the book cover above

As a podcaster myself, there are several people in this industry of whom my admiration knows no bounds.

Comedian Marc Maron, for example, who found a way to make the comedy world beat a path to his California garage.

And Emily Morse, my guest today, took a subject as mundane as sex – c’mon everybody’s doin’ it, right – and owns it in podcasting with a long-running show called “Sex With Emily.”

EMILY MORSE audio excerpt: “Use Sex With Emily as a tool to spice up your sex life in a way that isn’t so in your face.” 

Emily Morse interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 10, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with EMILY MORSE, host of the SEX WITH EMILY podcast, by clicking the audio player above!

She’s grown the audio show into broadcast radio distribution, online video, a TV show in development, a paid subscription model, iPhone apps and books, including her latest, written with Jamye Waxman, called Hot Sex: Over 200 Things You Can Try Tonight. And before you know it, she’ll be “Dr. Emily”!

The thing about “Sex With Emily” is that it’s graphic without being offensive to even the most sensitive ears. Emily developed a formula that has broad appeal, particularly, I suspect, to women.

Subscribe to Sex With Emily @ SexWithEmily.com

This is Emily’s second visit to Mr. Media. The last time she was here, she was in the midst of a long sex drought, which I suspect is long over. Trust me, I’ll ask.

Sex With Emily Website • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Order Hot Sex from Amazon.com

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of ambitious young men and women in the theatre biz who are gonna live forever and learn how to fly… in the NEW new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Jaime Cepero as Ellis Boyd on NBC's 'Smash' (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC)

There is a first time for everything. First kiss, first bicycle ride… and, of course, that all-important first time on a network TV show.

That’s what actor Jamie Cepero had a few weeks ago. He’s one of the young stars in the new NBC musical drama “Smash,” which airs Mondays at 10 p.m. The show is a big hit — and so is he.

Jamie plays Ellis, assistant to the composer whose musical score propels the play within a play on “Smash.” Of course, that only happens after Jamie (and this is why the New York Times called the character “devious” and “ingratiating”) sneaks a video of a private test on to YouTube. (There is a lesson in there somewhere for young people, but probably not a good one.)

JAMIE CEPERO audio excerpt: “Life has been strange (since Smash debuted). People have recognized me and asked me to take pictures with them. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it, but it’s cool.” 

Jamie Cepero interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 13, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with actor JAMIE CEPERO, star of NBC’s SMASH, by clicking the audio player above!

This is, for all intents and purposes, the biggest of big breaks for Jamie, whose resume boasts New York workshop productions, regional theater and the 75th anniversary national tour of “Porgy & Bess,” but nothing quite like appearing before millions on one of the most hyped TV shows in several seasons.

Is he nervous? Let’s find out.

Jamie Cepero IMDB • Smash website on NBC

More Mr. Media interviews with the cast of Smash: Christian Borle • Brian d’Arcy James

Smash, Season: 1 cast. Pictured: (l-r) Jack Davenport as Derek Wills, Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright, Megan Hilty as Ivy Lynn, Raza Jaffrey as Dev Sundaram, Debra Messing as Julia Houston, Christian Borle as Tom Levitt, Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand, Brian d'Arcy James as Frank Houston, Jaime Cepero as Ellis (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC)

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland!

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of real people whose lives only make it seem like they’re trapped in a comic strip… in the new new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!>

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media iPhone/Android App • Stitcher

That Gil is one smart kid! (Illustration by Norm Feuti)

Does anyone else think that daily comic strips are a lot like local radio shows? And that cartoonists have a lot in common with disc jockeys and talk show hosts?

Confused? Let me try to explain.

There are hundreds of daily comic strips in the world and your local newspaper might carry 30 at most. Where I live, for example, there are strips that I see in the Tampa Bay Times that readers of the Tampa Tribune don’t get and vice versa.

Similarly, a morning radio show host that everybody in the Tampa Bay area knows as hysterically funny is virtually unknown 90 miles away in Orlando.

Like I said, I see similarities between the two professions.

Which is my odd way of saying that there are a lot of great comic strips and radio shows that you’ll never see and hear.

NORM FEUTI audio excerpt: “The typical comic strip is Calvin. Calvin is very precocious; wise beyond his years. It seemed more fun to write Gil somewhat on the dim side. In reality, most kids are. I consider myself of average intelligence; I never thought of myself as the smartest guy in the room.” 

Norm Feuti interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, January 19, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with cartoonist NORM FEUTI, creator of the comic strips GIL and RETAIL, by clicking the audio player above!

Gil by Norm Feuti

I can’t help you much with the radio end of things, but let me try to turn you on to a new daily comic strip that I think a lot of people will enjoy: “Gil.”

Created and drawn by Norm Feuti, this strip centers around a chunky 8-year-old boy whose parents are divorced. It’s a throroughly modern take on family life that is drawn in classic comics style with a totally 2012 voice.

Gil struggles with school and his appetite. His 1960s-style mom –complete with red kerchief always holding back her hair — balances the demands of being a single parent with sustaining a career. Dumping Gil’s slovenly dad – who the boy only sees on alternate weekends – was the smartest thing she ever did. Oh, and did I mention that Gil’s best friend, Sandra, is also the product of a broken home?

Retail by Norm Feuti

Maybe it doesn’t sound like comedy gold the way I described it, but there is definitely a market for its style, tone and jokes. If Charles Schulz was starting out today, I suspect there would be threads of “Gil” in “Peanuts.”

One other interesting note about “Gil.” The strip actually started in 2008 as a web-only comic. Feuti abandoned it after about a year and a half before taking a second, successful run at print syndication in 2011.

Norm Feuti Website • Gil Comics Site • Retail Comics Site • Twitter • Facebook • Order Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook by Norm Feuti from Amazon.com

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland!

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of anonymous character actors who’d just once like to be recognized as “THAT GUY!”… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Order from Amazon.com by clicking the DVD cover above

I suspect that when Larry Hankin is out in public, he gets a lot of funny looks. Double-takes. Triple-takes.

Because he is THAT GUY. That actor you’ve seen a hundred times on TV shows and in films, but you honestly don’t know his name. And unlike a guy like me who has a face for radio, there is no doubt that Larry Hankin has a mug for the screen with his trademark disheveled appearance and deadpan affect.

LARRY HANKIN audio excerpt: “I was supposed to actually, manually, wreck that Winnebago on Breaking Bad. I was in the machine, practicing crushing cars. I was so pumped to do it. But they lost the light.“ 

Larry Hankin interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, January 24, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with character actor LARRY HANKIN by clicking the audio player above!

Where do you know him from? He plays homeless quite a bit, in episodes of “ER” he literally played a character known as “Bearded Homeless Guy.” He’s also been on “Breaking Bad,” “CSI, “The Sarah Silverman Program,” “My Name is Earl” and on “Friends” he had the recurring role of weird Mr. Heckles on “Friends.” The “Weird” is officially capitalized.) His TV career goes all the way back to “That Girl” with Marlo Thomas.

He’s also had plenty of movie work, including Pretty Woman and Escape From Alcatraz.

Genre fans will know Hankin from his appearances on “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Lois and Clark” and the Alec Baldwin film, The Shadow.

Even more interesting is the work for which he is not known: he was actually Larry David’s first choice for the role of Kramer on “Seinfeld.” He didn’t get it, of course, but in the show’s fourth season, he played an actor playing Kramer in a pilot based on Jerry’s life.

Order from Amazon.com by clicking the DVD cover above

Hankin’s latest effort is as a landlord in the new indie film, Buzzkill, which stars Daniel Raymont, “Breaking Bad” actress Krysten Ritter and “Saturday Night Live” star Darrell Hammond. Buzzkill was just released on DVD.

Larry Hankin Website • Facebook • Twitter • IMDB • YouTube • Order Buzzkill on DVD from Amazon.com

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of TV characters with no interest in their voluptuous blonde co-stars… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media iPhone/Android App • Stitcher

(l-r) Debra Messing as Julia Houston, Christian Borle as Tom Levitt (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC)

Now that we’ve had a chance to see NBC’s new musical drama “Smash” and now that it lives up to all the hype, all kinds of new questions have popped up:

• Megan Hilty or Katherine McPhee?

• Or both (Somebody’s gotta understudy, right?)

• Will there be many in-jokes about Spider-Man: Turn Out the Dark?

CHRISTIAN BORLE audio excerpt: “We are allowed to say Smash Season One ends with us taking the Marilyn Monroe musical out of town. To Boston.” 

Christian Bohrle interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 13, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with actor CHRISTIAN BORLE, star of NBC’s SMASH, by clicking the audio player above!

• If there are Broadway in-jokes of any kind, will anyone outside of Manhattan get them?

• How many Broadway songwriters does it take to screw in a light bulb? (Answer below.)

Joining me today to talk about “Smash” is one of its stars, Christian Borle.

Borle plays Tom Levitt, writing partner of Debra Messing’s character, as they create and guide their new musical about Marilyn Monroe through spider’s web of a new Broadway show.

Although his name may be new to most TV viewers, Borle is already a familiar presence on Broadway and the national theater scene.

Christian Borle Facebook

(Answer: It’s not up to the songwriter; it’s the producer who does the screwing around here!)

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of Amazon Kindle fans who can’t figure out what the big deal about book art might be… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Order 'The Book Art of Richard Minsky' by clicking the book cover above

Quite frankly, I’m way out of my usual comfort zone with today’s guest, book artist Richard Minsky.

Minsky is such a specialized artist that today may be the first and only time you’ll ever see his one-of-a-kind work up close and almost personal. Of course, he’d really like it if you checked out the just published collection of his work accompanied by his autobiography, The Book Art of Richard Minsky.

RICHARD MINSKY audio excerpt: “The glove I used on The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson? It’s an illustration in some ways of the American legal system. Whether it’s use or abuse, it’s up to the individual reader to decide.” 

Richard Minsky interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, January 19, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with artist RICHARD MINSKY, author of THE BOOK ART OF RICHARD MINSKY, by clicking the audio player above!

How to describe Minsky’s art? Maybe by example:

• For a celebration of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four, he constructed a bookbinding with an LCD monitor built into the leather cover and a miniature video camera hidden within. Hold the book in front of you and you see yourself on the cover. Spooky.

• The Geography of Hunger is encased by what looks like human teeth. Message received, right?

• A collection of works by poet Patti Smith, titled Babel, is held together with safety pins, the symbol of the early punk movement.

• One more: For the jacket of a copy of writer Jeffrey Toobin’s The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, Minsky mounted a leather glove on the cover, its fingertips dripping with blood.

For more examples, check out the slideshow at Minsky.com.

I don’t know where this conversation is headed. But I do know that few of us has ever met an artist and craftsman as unique as my guest today.

Richard Minsky Website • Facebook • Twitter • Wikipedia • Order The Book Art of Richard Minsky • Graphic Novelist Barbara Slate’s interview with Mr. Media

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of diehards who believe that one day, Kyle Bornheimer will be the king of all sitcoms… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Olivia Munn and Hayes MacArthur on NBC's late, lamented "Perfect Couples"

I like to think we all have love affairs with TV shows that the networks gave up on way too soon.

For me, the list began building back in the 1960s with “It’s About Time” and continues all the way to the last few seasons when I qvelled about the cancellations of “Worst Week,” “Outsourced” and “Perfect Couples.”

Those were some damn funny shows!

HAYES MacARTHUR audio excerpt: “I play a douchey character on ‘Whitney’. He’s one of those guy who wears a knit cap even when it’s not cold out. He does slam poetry. Whitney is not down with any of those things.” 

Hayes MacArthur interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 8, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with actor HAYES MacARTHUR, guest star on NBC’s WHITNEY, by clicking the audio player above!

And two of those last three starred the same pair of wonderful comedic actors, Kyle Bornheimer and Hayes MacArthur.

On “Worst Week,” MacArthur played Bornheimer’s perfect brother-in-law – perfectly conniving that is. And on “Perfect Couples,” they were the husbands in two of three couples presented on the show, which was clever, innovative and given up on way too soon. Damn you, network programmers!

To order the best sitcom ever, "Worst Week," click the DVD cover above

Anyway, it’s not like MacArthur ever lacks for work. This week, he guests stars on an episode of NBC’s “Whitney” tonight, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. He’s also appeared recently in episodes of ABC’s “Happy Endings” and “Suburgatory.”

First, here’s some trivia: a former standout college quarterback, MacArthur was named for actress Helen Hayes. Even more important, he married actress Ali Larter in August 2009. That’s important because in June of that year, she was a guest… on Mr. Media!

Ali Larter on Mr. Media • Kyle Bornheimer on Mr. Media

More “Whitney” cast interviews with Mr. Media:

Maulik Pancholy • Zoe Lister-Jones • Chris D’Elia

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of cutthroat singers, dancers and actors who could crush the dreams of any of the “Glee” kids with just a look… in the NEW new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

The cast of Smash: Pictured: (l-r) Brian d'Arcy James as Frank Houston, Jaime Cepero as Ellis, Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand, Jack Davenport as Derek Wills, Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright, Megan Hilty as Ivy Lynn, Debra Messing as Julia Houston, Christian Borle as Tom Levitt, Raza Jaffrey as Dev Sundaram (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC NBC; the show airs Mondays at 10 p.m.)

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Brian d'Arcy James as Frank Houston on NBC's new musical drama, "Smash" (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC)

If it’s February, it’s finally time for NBC’s much awaited adult response to Fox’s high school musical series.

When “Smash” premieres tonight, it will bring to the small screen one of the most anticipated shows in years. The hype around this Steven Spielberg-produced show is tremendous, but the early reviews have been remarkably good.

BRIAN d’ARCY JAMES audio excerpt: “It’s not a stretch to say we’re all of this (Broadway) world.” 

Brian d’Arcy James interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 6, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with actor BRIAN d’ARCY JAMES, star of NBC’s SMASH, by clicking the audio player above!

That’s good for the cast, which includes former American Idol discovery Katharine McPhee and Hollywood royalty Anjelica Huston. It’s also promising for the last-place network, which could seriously stand a little stardust to land on its faded peacock feathers.

Joining me today is actor Brian d’Arcy James. On “Smash,” he plays Frank, husband of Julia, who is played by Debra Messing, late of “The Starter Wife” and “Will & Grace.”

Brian may not be a familiar face to TV viewers, but he has a lengthy list of film and Broadway credentials, including a 2009 Tony nomination for his starring run as Shrek in “Shrek the Musical.” He won the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama Desk Award for the same role.

Brian d’Arcy James Website • Twitter • Facebook • YouTube • Official ‘Smash’ website on NBC • Order CD From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn

To order 'From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn' by Brian d'Arcy James, click the image above

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Here’s something not everyone interviewing Olympic ice skater Sasha Cohen can say:

She’s quoted on the front cover of my new book.

It’s true: When Mind Over Business hits book shelves on March 6, there is a quote above the title from Sasha, who worked with my co-author Ken Baum in preparing for her legendary appearance and subsequent Silver Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

SASHA COHEN audio excerpt: “In ice skating you have one chance every four years at the Olympics — and it’s only a few minutes. You just have to do your best to believe in yourself.” 

Sasha Cohen interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, February 3, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with Olympic ice skater SASHA COHEN, star of PANDORA UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS OF LOVE ON ICE, by clicking the audio player above!

And within the pages of the book, Ken tells the story of their months of training for the big moment and how Sasha used her mental edge to get up from a fall and give the performance of a lifetime.

Of course, she also wrote her own book, Fire On Ice.

Ice Skater Sasha Cohen (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

Ken thinks the world of Sasha so when the opportunity to help promote her appearance this Saturday, February 4, in the “Pandora Unforgettable Moments of Love on Ice” on NBC, I jumped at the chance. You can see the special – which also includes performances by Katerina Gordeeva, Ilia Kulik and Kurt Browning and is hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi & Nancy Kerrigan – at 4 p.m. on NBC.

Sasha Cohen Website • Twitter • Order Fire On Ice

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of polka-dot wearing pinheads and upright horny toads… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

Mr. Media® Radio Network • Email • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • YouTube • Free Mr. Media Android App • Stitcher

Order 'Bill Griffith: Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003' by clicking the book cover above

You know what I really want to know from cartoonist Bill Griffith?

It’s this: does he collect a royalty every time the housekeeper on “Two and a Half Men,” Berta, calls Jon Cryer’s character Alan Harper “Zippy”?

Because with repeats, he should be a rich man.

Nothing telegraphs an opinion of someone’s intellect more rapidly than calling him or her a “pinhead.” And no one has done more to expand the use of the term “pinhead” in our society than daily cartoonist Bill Griffith, creator of the long running “Zippy the Pinhead” comic strip.

BILL GRIFFITH audio excerpt: “I’m sure somebody will be offended, which will be nice—to still offend somebody after all these years. People who only know Zippy comics through King Features will probably be surprised to see that Zippy was more adult-oriented.” 

Bill Griffith interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman January 17, 2012

You can LISTEN to this interview with cartoonist BILL GRIFFITH, creator of ZIPPY THE PINHEAD, by clicking the audio player above!

Zippy is an American icon, a mouthpiece alternatively for the social and political views of his creator or just a place to drop a twisted joke or punchline.

But for those who know Zippy the Pinhead only as a syndicated daily comic in newspapers around the world, you might be surprised to learn the character has a rich history starting in the underground comix world of the 1970s. And he was actually a secondary banana to creator Griffith’s first character, Mr. Toad.

Order 'Are We Having Fun Yet??' by clicking on the book cover above

All sorts of pinhead history can be found in Griffith’s introduction to his new collection, Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003. It’s a 364-page treasury of some of the cartoonist’s earliest work, including Zippy and pre-Zippy, such as Young Lust, Tales of Toad, Thrilling Murder and more.

This is my second conversation with Griffith; the first was back in 1997, when Mr. Media was a syndicated weekly newspaper column.

Bill Griffith Website • Zippy the Pinhead daily comic strips • Facebook • Wikipedia • Order Zippy merchandise

Image via Wikipedia

• Order Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

(Editor’s Note: Comic book artist and writer Howard Chaykin, perhaps best known for his work on Blackhawk and his creator owned project, American Flagg, is one of 14 nominees for the 2012 Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame to be announced in July at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Ca. Bob Andelman interviewed Chaykin in June 2006 for the official website of his biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, and thought it might be of interest to Mr. Media readers who missed it back then.

There are also two Mr. Media interviews by Andelman with another Eisner HoF nominee, the lovely Trina Robbins. You can read those HERE (The Brinkley Girls) and HERE (GoGirl!).

More information on all 14 nominees can be found by clicking here. Online voting is now open. To vote, you must be a professional working in the comics or related industries, as a creator (writer, artist, cartoonist, colorist, letterer), a publisher an editor, a retailer (comics store owner or manager), a graphic novels librarian, or a comics historian/educator. Eligible voters can visit www.eisnervote.com to register and then select up to four picks in the Hall of Fame category. The deadline for voting is March 25.)

By Bob Andelman

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2012 Will Eisner Comics Award Hall of Fame nominee Howard Chaykin with Eisner biographer Bob Andelman, photographed at MegaCon in Orlando, 2006

One of the interesting facets of writing Will Eisner’s biography was determining the reliability of my subject’s memory.

Eisner was 85 when I met him in February 2002 and, with repeated exposure over the next almost three years, I came to believe his mind and recall were easily as sharp as mine — and I was half his age.

There were only a few stories that Eisner told me that gave me pause over that time, tales that didn’t quite add up with independent confirmation. One of them was about an encounter he had with artist Howard Chaykin at a Barcelona comic book convention.

When I was dubious about his account, Eisner told me to call his old friend Joe Kubert. “Joe will confirm what I’m telling you,” he insisted.

So I called Kubert, who got his first job working for Eisner at his studio in Manhattan’s Tudor City in 1941. Kubert told me a lot of great stories, but he didn’t exactly recall the Barcelona incident the same way that Eisner did. Here’s the way I wrote it for draft of Will Eisner: A Spirited Life:

Eisner told a story about attending a comic book convention in Barcelona several years ago. He and several prominent artists, including Howard Chaykin and Joe Kubert, were talking about different comics. Chaykin mentioned “Blackhawk,” which he once illustrated.

“Will created ‘Blackhawk,’” someone said.

“It was one of the few fascistic things I’ve done in my life,” Will said.

“Fascist?” Chaykin said. “I’m one of the most liberal guys you’ll ever meet!”

Eisner, as gentle and amiable as he was about most things, on occasion antagonized a fellow artist and this was one of those times. Chaykin felt Eisner was calling him a fascist and it made him quite angry.

“It looked like it was gonna get into a fistfight,” Eisner said. “Joe Kubert finally separated us.”

Sounds like a great anecdote. And across two years of being interviewed for this book, Will told many stories that were confirmed down to the final detail. But in this rare case, his memory of events was not shared by others who were there.

“Howie’s the kinda guy that says a lot of things for effect more than anything else,” Kubert said when asked about the incident. “It may have seemed to Will that it might have led to something. I’m sure it happened and that Will felt that way. But I couldn’t imagine Howard ever getting into an actual fight with Will.”

Eisner insisted the story happened the way he told it. He was pretty frustrated with me that I left it out of the book, in fact. But with Kubert deflating Eisner’s version, there wasn’t any point in going further and calling Chaykin.

Fast-forward to February 2006. I was a guest at Megacon in Orlando, promoting the book. On a break from my table, I dropped by to say “Hello” to artists Nick Cardy and Al Feldstein, both of whom I interviewed for A Spirited Life. To Feldstein’s left was Chaykin.

When I bid adieu to Cardy and Feldstein, I dropped promotional postcards for my book at several booths. Seeing Chaykin was occupied with a bunch of autograph seekers, I dropped a postcard on his table and tried to move on quickly.

“Hey!” Chaykin called out to me. “Why the fuck do you think I’d care about a book by Will Eisner?”

Uh-oh.

Trapped — and with an audience, too — I introduced myself. Chaykin didn’t have anything nice to say about Eisner, so I tried to excuse myself. Didn’t work. Instead, I told Chaykin about the missing story from the book. That stopped him in his tracks. He couldn’t believe Eisner would ever tell an unflattering story about himself.

More amazing for me, Chaykin confirmed the essence of the story and cussed Kubert for denying the seriousness of it. At that moment, the idea for extending the biography through a series of online interviews was born. There were so many people with Eisner stories to tell that I thought it would be fun to add to the legend.

Howard Chaykin agreed to be the first in the “Will Eisner: A Spirited Life Interview Series.” The following conversation took place by telephone on March 2, 2006.

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BOB ANDELMAN: Do you recall the first time you encountered Will Eisner’s work in any significant way?

HOWARD CHAYKIN: Absolutely. That was the summer of 1966—the Harvey reprints. I had never seen the stuff before, and it absolutely boggled my mind. Wait – I’m wrong. The first time I was aware of it was in an article that ultimately became Jules Feiffer’s book, Great Comic Book Heroes, published in the magazine section of the New York Herald Tribune. I’m pretty sure this pre-dated the Harvey material. I could be wrong. Eisner did a strip about The Spirit working with John Lindsay for his re-election. Ebony objected to it because of his relationship with HarYouAct, a local civil rights group of the time.
Then I saw the Harvey material. I was impressed with that. It was very intriguing. I was really blown away by his drawing of women. I had no idea how much of an influence at the time he had on Wallace Wood, who I considered the archetype of drawing hot babes. Will’s women were very sensual—a cross between Milton Caniff and Woody.

ANDELMAN: How old would you have been in 1965?

CHAYKIN: I was 15. I think those books came out in the summer of 1966, was that right?

ANDELMAN: I think that is about right.

CHAYKIN: I was 15 and a total geek. Hugely fat. Very unhappy. Archetypal comic book fan.

ANDELMAN: Having been surrounded by them for the first time in years while promoting A Spirited Life, I am laughing.

CHAYKIN: There’s been an invasion and a successful conquest—with commercial slogans like “Nerds Fuck Things Up, Geeks Do It Right.” I was totally asocial and living entirely in fantasy.

That was a great year for comics,with Joe Kubert’s Enemy Ace, Bob Oksner’s Angel and the Ape, and Nick Cardy, Denny O’Neil and Sergio Aragones on Bat Lash.

ANDELMAN: I was wondering if you were going to mention Nick Cardy. I was thinking that was a pretty big time for him.

CHAYKIN: I love Nick’s stuff. There’s bunch of guys, Nick among them, like Ross Andru, Frank Thorne, a few others. Nobody pays attention to them, nobody even acknowledges their existence. I just think their work is just brilliant.

ANDELMAN: Let me bring you back to Will Eisner.

CHAYKIN: By the way, did you like the guy?

ANDELMAN: Yeah, I did, actually. He treated me extremely well.

CHAYKIN: Because you came between him and the truth.

ANDELMAN: I hope not.

CHAYKIN: He obviously treated you well because you were going to be putting his life on paper, and he wanted to be revealed in the best light possible. He was very competent at manipulating his own image.

ANDELMAN: Well, I would agree with that to a point. I didn’t have any restraints in terms of what I would say or what I would write or who I would talk to.

CHAYKIN: I have to say, I am astonished he ever told you the story that brought us together in the first place.

ANDELMAN: He treated me very well. There were only two rules that we worked with on this, and I was with him for about two and a half years doing this. The first rule was laid down by Denis Kitchen and Judy Hansen, his agents, and that was, “Do not ask him about family, do not ask him about children.” And they wouldn’t tell me why, they just said, “Don’t.” We were together about a year and a half, and at that point I think I had his trust. We were at his kitchen table and it was very late. He was never up past nine o’clock, but there we were, still talking, still talking…

CHAYKIN: This was in Florida?

ANDELMAN: Yeah. And I was asking him about some pictures on the refrigerator. There was a picture of him and Neil Gaiman and Art Spiegelman and Scott McCloud, and then he just started showing me the others, and then he said, “And this is my son.” And I said, “I didn’t know you had a son.” And that was the night that he really came clean with me about stuff, that he had a son and a daughter and that his daughter had died of leukemia in 1969, she was 16, and that just destroyed him. They took all family pictures out of the house. Most people who knew him or met him after she died had no idea that he had children.

CHAYKIN: I had no idea. I had met Will’s wife a couple of times, and I am stunned.

ANDELMAN: The thing was, I was told by Denis and Judy not to bring it up, so suddenly Will brings it up, and he says, “I know that you need to know about this, and I appreciate that you haven’t asked, but I know you have to know,” so he told me the whole story.

It turned out that A Contract With God was basically his response after several years, that was the first time he ever dealt with her death, that it wasn’t about some religious Jew mourning the death of his daughter, it was about him mourning the death of his own daughter. And Denis has the originals and has been showing them this past year. In the book, the daughter’s original name was Alice. So we talked about that.

CHAYKIN: I am impressed by that, because he was so effective in controlling his own image and his own press. I think he was a great bamboozler. I think he manipulated the people who adored him, and used them to manipulate his own image. I really do.

ANDELMAN: When did you start feeling that way about him?

CHAYKIN: It probably traces back to the interviews, the Shop Talk stuff that he did back when Kitchen was publishing The Spirit. I found out that he was completely re-editing his side of the questions.

ANDELMAN: Oh? I hadn’t heard that before.

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CHAYKIN: I happened to be hanging with Gil Kane. Gil had ethical issues. I have no illusions. I loved Gil Kane despite his failings, okay? I take a lot of heat for this, but that’s life. I learned a great deal about being a guy from Gil, including tying a necktie. He went absolutely bug-fuck when he read the Shop Talk thing he did with Will.

Gil was an extremely articulate man, a man who liked talking to a man who liked to talk. He was astonished and appalled when he found that Eisner had re-written and re-edited his side of the interview, I guess to make himself sound more astute, I don’t know. And that opened that can of worms for me, and I began to be aware, with The Dreamer and all that stuff, that he was reinventing the past. This is guy created the modern system of the division of labor in the comic book business. He was a great businessman who passed himself off as an artist when it was necessary and as a businessman when that became necessary.

ANDELMAN: The main issue that brought us to this point was Barcelona, but I kind of wondered before we got to that if you had any previous encounters with him worth noting.

CHAYKIN: No. We had met in passing, at shows or conventions in San Diego. I always found it odd he moved to Florida. It seemed so “Jew-y.” I am serious. Florida seemed an odd place for someone as cosmopolitan as Will.

ANDELMAN: So kind of set the table for me in terms of Barcelona. Why were you there?

CHAYKIN: I was a guest at the convention. As per Joe Kubert’s recollection and Will’s recollection, we were talking about Blackhawk, but we got onto American Flagg, and Will accused me of producing fascist comics. I realized after the fact this was based solely on his interpretation of the cover imagery. I love fascist imagery, it’s extremely powerful. I like what the Italians did, I like what the Germans did. I don’t subscribe to their politics. I am a huge fan of Ludwig Holhein, for example.

ANDELMAN: I’m sorry, who?

CHAYKIN: Ludwig Holhein.

ANDELMAN: I don’t know his work.

CHAYKIN: He was an advertising artist in Germany in the ’20s and ’30s who became a very important player doing posters for the SS. Amazing graphic designer. Very influential to this day.

ANDELMAN: I will read up about him. I have probably seen the work, but I have just never heard the name.

CHAYKIN: The influences on the covers for the Flagg books were poster art. I’ve never been happy with my cover work, but I think I finally achieved some measure of success with those covers.

I don’t see my work showing any of the influence of Jack Kirby or Will Eisner. I have an enormous respect for Will’s work. In the book I hope to write, I give Will credit for basically creating the vocabulary for the medium in which we are working. He codified the language. Up to that point, it was a series of experimental ideas. Then Harvey Kurtzman made it better.

Will would make pronouncements based on what little information he had.

He tended to imply he knew more about something than he did and frequently got away with it. He never read much contemporary comics stuff. He had no understanding of the context in which those covers existed, and yet he was willing to call me a fascist. And that’s just something that I will not accept.
I am a child of liberal parents. I’m proud of my distinctly left liberal place on the planet. I have been called a left wing faggot on the Internet too often to accept otherwise. I am not a bleeding heart—I’m a Cold War liberal, a classic socialist Jew. I was raised in a predominantly secular home.

ANDELMAN: I think that kind of brings us to what happened. I remember Will telling me, “I almost came to blows with Chaykin,” or, “He almost slugged me,” or something to that effect.

CHAYKIN: I’m not going to hit anybody—but I was very annoyed. I offered Kubert $10 to kick his ass, and Kubert said that for $20 he would think about it. I was being facetious. I found him insulting and condescending. And I found his relationship with most people was profoundly condescending, yet they were willing to take it because he was so beloved a figure.

ANDELMAN: Right. You were not planning to lay a hand on Will.

CHAYKIN: Oh, come on. I don’t do that sort of thing. I tend to shoot from the lip. I give credit to Jack Paar for having so profound an influence on my life.
One of the frustrations of working in the comic book business is the constant misappropriation of the word “cynic” when skeptic is what they mean. I considered Will a cynic, if you will, willing to say and do anything to remain in the good graces of his audience. I don’t think he was a bad guy, but he was condescending in a particularly German-Jewish way. I’m a Russian Jew, and I spent most of my boyhood being slum-lorded by German Jews, so I have my issues.

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ANDELMAN: Is there any part of you that wishes you could have had this conversation with him and worked that out?

CHAYKIN: Not especially. I don’t really care. The weird thing is, the two guys I feel are most responsible for the evolution of comics storytelling were Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman—and I never got along with either of them.

I have never outgrown my worship of Harvey’s stuff. When I hire a new assistant I hand them the Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat, and Terry & the Pirates, to show them what they should be doing.

My personal feelings aside from Harvey, the work remains brilliant. I don’t feel that way about Will’s stuff. I will crack open Harvey’s stuff and be amazed and intrigued by it, the Mad stuff, Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline. That rarely happens with Will’s stuff. It’s pretty, but I don’t really care. The only time I think about Will Eisner is in a conversation like this.

ANDELMAN: So you have read my description of what happened in Barcelona between you, Will Eisner and Joe Kubert. Is there anything you would fill in with the gaps of what was going on?

CHAYKIN: He was not referring to Blackhawk, he was referring to the Flagg covers.

ANDELMAN: All right.

CHAYKIN: And Joe did not separate us. I literally – facetiously – offered Joe $10 to kick his ass, and Joe said, make it $20 and we will talk.

ANDELMAN: And that was in front of Will.

CHAYKIN: Yes. We were kidding. I was pissed off, but not pissed off enough to lay a hand on an old Jew. Frankly, Kubert could have kicked my ass. Twenty minutes ago, I was talking about Joe with my assistant. Joe could still take me apart and put me back together any way he wanted. I ran into Joe in the lobby of the hotel at a San Francisco convention, and he gave me a shot to the chops with his knuckles; he rattled my teeth. Joe is an incredibly, physically powerful guy. He is in amazing shape

But no, there was no danger of any fisticuffs. On the other hand, I think what Will said was something he pulled out of his ass, because he knew nothing about me or the work. All he was basing it on was his cursory impression of the Flagg! covers.

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The assumption Will made was there was him and everyone else—that the everyone else is doing work that’s by nature secondary to his vision. His dismissal of Jack Kirby is a classic example of this. I’m not a huge fan of Kirby’s, but I acknowledge his place in the pantheon. Will never thought very highly of the work. I am sure you know this.

ANDELMAN: It was never actually said to me.

CHAYKIN: Will regarded Jack as a guy who just turned the pages out.

ANDELMAN: If so, I think that had a lot to do with where they started together, and that is what Jack was doing at the beginning, and I don’t think he ever saw him any differently, but…

CHAYKIN: Like the work or not, Jack is the center of the universe in the evolution of modern work. The man was able to spew out work of astonishing, consistent quality over a period of fifty years. That’s mind-boggling.

ANDELMAN: After Barcelona, as you walked away from that situation, obviously your view of Will was changed. You went from just having a casual familiarity and knowledge of him in that sense to, “Boy, I really can’t stand this guy.”

CHAYKIN: I was not happy with this character.

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ANDELMAN: Were there other things that happened between then and now that grew that, or was it just…

CHAYKIN: Well, we were together again in Brazil in 1993 or 1994, and Kubert was there again. Joe is always a character in this story!

ANDELMAN: What happened in Brazil?

CHAYKIN: Eisner was baiting me. I don’t remember the specific details. Eisner was traveling stag, his wife didn’t come down. There was Jules Feiffer and his wife, Kubert and Muriel, Jose Delbo and his wife Mabel, me and my wife. Will baited me. I think he did so because he felt he could. Jules calmed down the situation and I appreciated that, because there was no reason for me to lose my temper.

I had a prickly relationship with Will that lasted until he died. The last time I saw Will was at an Eisner Awards at the San Diego convention. I’m an early riser, a go to bed at 10: 00 o’clock guy. It was 11: 30, and I am having to be social and comfortable and conscious while I was exhausted. I wasn’t all that thrilled to be there in the first place. I am a guy who never wins these things. I want the attention as much as the next guy, but by the same token, I don’t care that much about the enthusiasm of others. If I did, I would probably have done different work, so I accept the fact that I am the architect of my own adversity. By the same token, at 11: 30 at night, I want to be in bed.

Will was there. We were cordial. He understood that we were not people who were close.

ANDELMAN: Have you encountered anyone else over the years who has had similar exchanges with him?

CHAYKIN: Gil Kane.

ANDELMAN: What did Gil say about him?

CHAYKIN: He felt very much as I did.

ANDELMAN: Did Gil ever tell you any specific stories?

CHAYKIN: Not really. We had a shared antipathy. Will was made a saintly figure before he died. This guy really was a talented artist, but a major portion of his career was played in the same ballpark as Jack Liebowitz and Victor Fox. He may not have been as big an asshole or mobster, but the guy was ethically compromised in his own way.

ANDELMAN: After you are gone, do you think there is someone out there who will have any similar feelings toward you?

CHAYKIN: In terms of my behavior?

ANDELMAN: Well, yeah, or anything. You are a very strong personality. You say what is on your mind.

CHAYKIN: I’m roundly despised by people who don’t know me, but I believe I’ll be held in fairly high regard by most people. I’m not really worried.

ANDELMAN: Okay, I’ll ask. Who is the guy who is more widely despised?

CHAYKIN: I think John Byrne is more widely despised than I am.

As for how I’ll be remembered, I’m a cult figure. I never became a star, and I’m comfortable with that.

I live a small life. The work speaks for itself. I’m ashamed of some of it because I take credit and blame equally. And I am bitter about some stuff and okay with others, but as I get older, I get less bitter, because I give less of a shit.

ANDELMAN: As you look ahead, put on your forward-looking glasses…

CHAYKIN: As I become the old Jew as opposed to the late middle-aged?

ANDELMAN: There you go. How do you think the industry and the greater group who might have some knowledge of Eisner, how do you think he will be regarded in twenty, twenty-five, fifty years? Will people even remember him?

CHAYKIN: Well, does anybody remember Lou Fine, does anybody remember Hal Foster? The industry is very much a reflection of contemporary culture. Look what happened to J.C. Leyendecker. Leyendecker was completely forgotten until Richard Amsel and Roger Huyssen borrowed images from his work, for movie posters and magazine illustrations in the 1970s. The poster for The Sting is what brought J.C. Leyendecker back to public awareness.

He was a Saturday Evening Post artist from the teens, who did his last cover for the Post in 1943. His work became passé in the last decade of his life. He died at 75 in 1950. Remember the poster for The Sting?

ANDELMAN: Sure.

CHAYKIN: That was based on two Arrow Shirt ads, I believe. It was by Richard Amsel, a talented poster and magazine cover artist who died in the early 1980s.

Interestingly enough, a lot of Will’s rendering of shadows and fold patterns, where he would take a brush and indicate a fold in a shadow not with a solid black but by a series of horizontal lines, that’s a black and white simplified version of what Leyendecker did with his interpretation of shadows and folds. Take a look—you’ll see what I mean.

Howard Chaykin Facebook • Wikipedia • Original Art Gallery

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

Mr. Media is recorded live before a retail audience of people who kayak, canoe, scuba dive, paddleboard, zipline, bike and camp for fun, not profit… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

By Bob Andelman

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Order 'Everyday Adventures: A Florida Outdoors Guide'by clicking the book cover above!

Adventure? I’ve had adventures. There was that time in the hot air balloon in Brandon, Florida, for starters and, uh…

Well, I guess that was about it.

Oh, I’ve canoed, kayaked and fished – I do live in Florida, fer cryin’ out loud – but that’s the extent of my adventures on the edge of the great outdoors.

My old friend Terry Tomalin, however, has made a virtual cottage industry of looking for family-style fun above and below the Sunshine State’s surface. As Outdoors Editor for the Tampa Bay Times, he’s enjoyed a license to thrill for many, many years.

TERRY TOMALIN audio excerpt: “Paddling in a kayak is a great way to get around, see Florida and carry a lot of gear around with you.”

Terry Tomalin interview with Mr. Media, Bob Andelman (2012)

You can LISTEN to this interview with TAMPA BAY TIMES outdoors-fitness editor TERRY TOMALIN, author of EVERYDAY ADVENTURES: A FLORIDA OUTDOORS GUIDE, by clicking the audio player above!

Now Terry has taken his tales to the next step with the publication of his first book, Everyday Adventures: A Florida Outdoors Guide.

To showcase Terry and his stories, I thought it would be fun to do today’s interview from Tampa Bay’s legendary epicenter of outdoors supplies, Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park, Florida. It’s not just a store, it’s a destination, with an indoor pool for scuba and kayak instruction, an indoor ski deck and even a shooting range.

Terry Tomalin Website • Facebook • Twitter •  Order Everyday Adventures: A Florida Outdoors Guide

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky,