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May
2ndFame & Acclaim Through Murder: Our Celebrity KillersWe’re pleased to welcome guest blogger Jeffrey Cohen, author of the newly released crime novel The Killing of Mindi Quintana. By Jeffrey A. Cohen Years ago while in law school, I became fascinated with the phenomenon of the jailhouse literary sensation, and particularly, Jack Henry Abbott. He was the convicted murderer who became a cultural icon and literary shooting star when his book of letters to Norman Mailer, In the Belly of the Beast, was published in 1981. One irony of the Abbott case is that this evil man’s letters, irrationally justifying his lifetime of violent crime, resulted in public sympathy, literary acclaim, and even his parole (with Mailer’s assistance). Another irony, a tragic one, is that within six weeks of his release Abbott killed again, the night before a laudatory review of his book would appear in the New York Times. And a final irony—the most perverse of all—is that the man he stabbed in the heart, Richard Adan, 22, a night-shift waiter who refused him the use of an employees-only restroom, was by day pursuing his dream of becoming a writer himself.
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Mar
5thFamous Film Directors Gone WildBy Robert Schnakenberg What is it with great directors and crime? Roman Polanski is just the most famous example of a legendary filmmaker who ran afoul of the law—and we’re not talking about the time he cut off Jack Nicholson’s schnozz in Chinatown. Oliver Stone has been busted several times for drug offenses. Quentin Tarantino has had numerous brushes with the po-po—all for petty offenses like not paying his parking tickets and shoplifting an Elmore Leonard novel from his local K-Mart. Here are three examples of renowned moviemakers who skated on the thin ice of infamy—including one who managed to make it into the international criminal docket after he was already dead.
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Oct
3rd8 arresting workplace lessons from Law & OrderBY KENYA McCULLUM In addition to be entertaining, Law & Order can be downright educational. Freelance writer and Workplace Communication Examiner Kenya McCullum schools us on the lessons to be learned from our favorite TV show. NBC’s Law & Order—which begins its 20th season tonight—has peaked many viewers’ interest in…well, law and order. But aside from ripping stories from the headlines and showing us how investigations work, there are some workplace lessons that can be learned by watching the show. 1. If you must go to work drunk, be sure to pick up some Altoids before you talk to your employees. Dr. Edward Auster is a brilliant physician and a hopeless drunk. When he kills a patient in the emergency room, his whole staff can attest to the fact that he regularly shows up drunk to work. Although Auster denies it during his trial, he makes the mistake of showing up drunk to court on the day he is testifying and removes any reasonable doubt. (Episode: Prescription for Death, Season 1) 2. Literacy is important in any profession. When drug dealer Michael Ingrams is stiffed by a real estate agent in a deal, he needs to get revenge for the fraud. Obviously, it only makes good business sense to hire a contractor to do this dirty work for him, but little does he know his teenage hit man is illiterate. As a result, the hired killer goes to work at the wrong house. (Episode: Mushrooms, Season 1) 3. Keep your [...]
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May
27thTen Things You Need to Know About Sonia SotomayorOur charming people skills (and beer buying and blackmailing) have paid off once again with the addition of yet another special guest contributor: raconteur and Secret Lives of the Supreme Court author Robert Schnakenberg. BY ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG By now you know that President Obama has tapped Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be his nominee to succeed David Souter as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. But just who is this Bronx native set to become only the third woman and the first Hispanic to serve on the high court? More importantly, what facts do we know about her that can be hastily assembled into an easily digestible top ten-style list? Glad I you asked that question… Yankee fan Sonia Sotomayor Ten Things You Need to Know About Sonia Sotomayor 1. Her astrological sign is Cancer. 2. Her father only had a third-grade education and her mother worked as a nurse in a methadone clinic. Expect to hear these facts cited ad nauseum as evidence of her “empathy” for the common person. 3. She suffers from juvenile diabetes and began giving herself insulin injections at age 8. 4. As a child, she aspired to be a “girl detective,” a la Nancy Drew. 5. She grew up just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium and is a longtime New York Yankees fan.
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May
19thHollywood Ending: Crazy Joe and Jerry OrbachBY TOM FOLSOM Author Tom Folsom‘s highly acclaimed new book
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