That would be my bumper sticker for the day, if I could find one.
Last week I had a couple of interesting experiences with people who don't just sit around and let the glass teat (Harlan Ellison's term for the boob tube) be their surrogate mamas.
On Wednesday night, Dec. 13, I spoke at the Bedford Public Library, just across the state line in Michigan, marking my first interstate book lecture. I've hit the big time.
There were about 40 people there and this talk was different because previously I was so busy signing books that I didn't actually speak very long. This time the focus was on the talk and the signings were secondary. I found the group so refreshing -- many had already read my book, and they had some great questions. I really enjoyed that evening. And the punch-and-cookies reception was a fun time. It was the first time my daughter, Cara, who is studying in Australia, was able to be at one of those events so that made it special.
The second notable evening was Friday night when Glenn Beck was in town for his traveling stage show. Beck is host of one of the most popular radio talk show programs in America and also is host of a TV show on CNN that airs in prime time.
A friend at The Blade, Jim Pencheff, listens to Beck regularly and suggested I try to get a copy of my book to him. Well everything just clicked from there. I called Dave Murnen, who is manager of the SeaGate Center box office and a musician I've written about in the past, and Dave was happy to do whatever he could to make things work. He introduced me to John Bobey, Beck's assistant/road manager, who told me they had eaten at Murphy's Place earlier in the day and the waitress had told them about my book (my first book signing was held at Murphy's). So Beck and Bobey were already aware of it. I came back later for a preshow meet-and-greet and when I introduced myself to Glenn Beck, before I could give my spiel he leaned back and gave me a smile and said he had the book and was looking forward to reading it. He said he asked Bobey to have it ready for him so he could read it on the plane. Beck seemed sincere and genuinely interested in it. Bobey also mentioned that Glenn is often looking for fresh faces/voices to comment on the news and that perhaps I could be interviewed when there are some developments in the religion field.
By the way, I stayed for Beck's stage show and it was incredibly entertaining. The guy is a master storyteller and knows how to make things interesting for his audiences, adding fast-paced videos and cranked-up music between tales. I would guess there were about 5,000 people at SeaGate that night, with tickets priced from $36 to $91 apiece. Obviously he's got a following!
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I finished reading Michael Crichton's Next last weekend and wrote a review of it for The Blade. I had expected more and was extremely disappointed in the novel. It's basically dull and confusing, and you're forced to try to keep track of who's who among a couple dozen stereotyped characters. You never really find yourself disappearing into the story, it's just a lot of work trying to follow the crazy plot and the cast. To be honest, it's one of the worst novels I've read in a long time. I ask myself, Who am I to criticize the great Michael Crichton? I mean, this guy wrote Jurassic Park and created the E.R. television series. I've heard he can be vengeful with critics, but would he care what The Blade has to say about one of his books? I hope he doesn't sneak into my house some night and try to inject a mutant gene into my liver.
Toledo, Ohio December 18, 2006.