This book is a glimpse into my on-going flirtation with Dame Literature … and the rare occasion when … she winked back. Regarding the poems, some of them arose in response to the morning wishes received as “forwards” via WhatsApp by people who could be considered as the modern roosters – summoning the sun over the horizon every day; others arose out of a deeply emotional response to situations like the present on-going pandemic. And then there are others. The short-stories are based on happenings as I grew more and more aware of the world around me, and as I wandered through swamps of dog-eared files, never ceasing to wonder at the infinite variety of human feelings, deviousness – and resilience. Altogether, they reflect an attitude towards life: some guiding philosophy, some amount of humour, and … love.
Think a newspaper can’t be responsible for mass murder? Think again. As flagship of the American news media, the New York Times is the world’s most powerful news outlet. With thousands of reporters covering events from all corners of the globe, the Times has the power to influence wars, foment revolution, shape economies and change the very nature of our culture. It doesn’t just cover the news: it creates it. The Gray Lady Winked pulls back the curtain on this illustrious institution to reveal a quintessentially human organization where ideology, ego, power and politics compete with the more humble need to present the facts. In its 10 gripping chapters, The Gray Lady Winked offers readers an eye-opening, often shocking, look at the New York Times’s greatest journalistic failures, so devastating they changed the course of history. How its World War II Berlin bureau chief, a known Nazi collaborator, skewed coverage in favor of the Third Reich for over a decade. Its notorious coverup of the Ukraine Famine, a genocide committed by Stalin, showing that it was the newspaper's owners who directed the coverup in order to advance their own financial and ideological interests. The “1619 Project," a cynical, ideologically driven attempt to revise American history by rooting the nation's birth in slavery instead of liberty. The result is an essential look at the tangled relationship between media, power and politics in a post-truth world told with novelistic flair to reveal a uniquely powerful institution’s tortured relationship with the truth. Most importantly of all, The Gray Lady Winked presents a cautionary tale that shows what happens when the guardians of the truth abandon that sacred value in favor of self-interest and ideology—and what this means for our future as much as for our past.
Amazing Stories, the home of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, publisher of the first stories of Ursula K. Leguin and Isaac Asimov, is back in print after an absence of more than a decade! This relaunch of the iconic first science fiction magazine is packed full of exciting science fiction, fantasy, and articles, all in a beautiful package featuring eye-catching illustrations and cartoons. The Amazing Stories Fall 2018 issue (the 614th issue since 1926) includes work by: Robert Silverberg Jack Clemons Allen Steele Lawrence Watt-Evans Rudy Rucker Dave Creek Shirley Meier Kameron Hurley Julie Czerneda Paul Levinson Drew Hayden Taylor Gary Dalkin Steve Fahnestalk Continuing a 92-year history - Amazing Stories returns as a print and digital publication!
