by Michael Shapiro | Feb 14, 2024 | Interviews, Music, Stories
Most stories about Lukas Nelson start with referencing his popular pop, Willie. So when I interviewed Lukas in advance of his Santa Rosa appearance in early 2024, I made a point to ask a series of questions about his own work, then later in the interview I asked a...
by Michael Shapiro | Mar 19, 2023 | Blog, Environment, Stories
Sierra, the country’s leading environmental magazine, has a front-of-the-book section called Notes from Here and There that’s akin to the New Yorker’s Talk of the Town. It’s an ideal venue for spotlighting personal views on the environment, not...
by Michael Shapiro | Jun 10, 2022 | Stories, Travel
“Come over for lunch. You can help me get a few things done ’round the house. Ever since I hurt my shoulder, I haven’t been able to do any hoovering,” said Dervla Murphy, Ireland’s most intrepid travel writer, when I let her know I was coming to the southern Ireland...
by Michael Shapiro | May 7, 2022 | Blog, Interviews, Music, Stories
Most editors don’t mind if you write a bit longer than assigned. I was asked to write 900 to 1,000 words about Old Crow Medicine Show for The Press Democrat, so it would have been fine, for example, to submit 1,100 words. Yet my interview with bandleader Ketch...
by Michael Shapiro | Feb 17, 2022 | Blog, Interviews, Stories
As I prepared to interview Fran Lebowitz, my friend and colleague Tim Cahill told me that she’d appeared on the cover of Outside magazine. This surprised me so I did a bit of digging and ended up writing this sidebar to accompany my story — click here for...
