by Michael Shapiro | Apr 25, 2012 | Books, Interviews, Literature, Stories
When my book A Sense of Place came out a few years ago I got compliments about being a good interviewer. But here’s the secret: I interviewed people — the world’s leading travel writers — who had something to say. I had a similarly delightful...
by Michael Shapiro | Mar 26, 2012 | Blog, Interviews, Stories
These days Lily Tomlin’s character Ernestine, the gossipy telephone operator who used to parody the AT&T monopoly, works for an insurance firm, “denying health care to everybody.” She told me this during a phone interview in March, 2012, for a Press Democrat...
by Michael Shapiro | Mar 3, 2012 | Blog, Books, Stories
Ballistics evidence suggests the bullets that killed NFL-player-turned-soldier Pat Tillman were fired from just 10 yards away. We know it was friendly fire — his mother believes it may not have been an accident. Here’s a review I wrote for the SF Chronicle...
by Michael Shapiro | Feb 28, 2012 | Blog, Stories
Sometimes dream assignments get even dreamier. After asking “if I’d be willing” to go to Peru and take a cruise down the Amazon, my editor said something like: As long as you’ll be in Lima, try a few top restaurants and we’ll run a...
by Michael Shapiro | Feb 27, 2012 | Blog, Interviews, Music, Stories
I recently interviewed a founding member of the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo who told me the band started as a dream – see excerpt below. The band plays March 2 at Napa’s Uptown Theater – here’s the excerpt: Mambazo’s...
