by Michael Shapiro | Oct 16, 2013 | Blog, Gambling, Stories
Here’s my latest Gambling column from the San Francisco Chronicle, on odds to win the NBA title. As expected, Miami is the favorite, but Golden State has it’s best odds in more than a decade. Read it on sfgate.com using the link above or see the full text...
by Michael Shapiro | Aug 9, 2013 | Blog, Stories, Travel
Every June, I mark the anniversary of leaving my last full-time job, at CNET in SF. It’s been 15 years with lots of highs and lows, but I’ve never regretted the decision to walk away from the rigidity of full-time work and hang my virtual shingle. Here are...
by Michael Shapiro | May 29, 2013 | Interviews
I love interviewing authors because they have so much to say. I learned that the easy way when I put together my first literary book, “A Sense of Place” — a collection of conversations with travel writers. Last fall I spoke with a hero of mine,...
by Michael Shapiro | May 17, 2013 | Blog, Interviews, Sports, Stories, Travel
In the fall of 2009, Mariner magazine asked if I’d go to Mazatlan to write about the cliff divers there. I’d watched cliff divers in Acapulco during the ’70s on ABC’s Wide World of Sports but didn’t know they were still plunging into the...
by Michael Shapiro | May 10, 2013 | Blog, Interviews, Music, Stories
In the early 1990s, Cowboy Junkies lead vocalist Margo Timmins performed just for me. I sat about 30 feet away from her and she sang one of her favorites, “Misguided Angel” to an audience of one. But I’m not sure she even noticed me. I was at the...
