Scott Martelle
journalist/author

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Some of my
journalism

There's more to Gilroy than garlic

On singer-songwriter Peter Case

On Jon Clinch's Kings of the Earth

On anthropologist Jennifer Perry, and California's Channel Islands

A look at political polemics in hardcover

Of Scott Turow's Innocent for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer

Interview piece with Scott Turow

On Ludlow, and the West Virginia mine tragedy (for the LA Times)

On Exene Cervenka for Orange Coast

On Mark Twain's image problem

Profile of Elif Batuman for Publishers Weekly

On Terry Teachout and Pops, his new bio of Louis Armstrong.

A look in the LA Times at the launch of Sarah Palin's memoir.

On The Fourth Part of the World, a history of how America got it's name, in The Washington Post

On Barbara Demick's forthcoming Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Short profile of critic Terry Teachout on his forthcoming bio of Louis Armstrong.

Kazuo Ishiguro's short story collection, Nocturnes.

On Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code

"Harry Helling's Uncertain Voyage"

Profile of author Maile Meloy.

On AAA baseball in Fresno, the budget alternative to the bigs.

Pat Conroy's South of Broad, not up to his full narrative power.

Fun piece on a yacht club without a yacht, a dock or, nowadays, a clubhouse.

Of Nick Reding's Methland, exploring the devastating effects of meth on small-town America.

Another version of the Reding review, this in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

A road trip up the California coast -- from brewpub to brewpub.

Elizabeth Edwards' Resilience in the LA Times.

Of J. Robert Lennon's Castle in the LA Times.

Short interview/profile of Reza Aslan, author of No God But God and How To Win A Cosmic War.

On Barry Rillera, former Righteous Brothers guitar player who shared a secret with The Beatles.

Ifill and Asim books on Obama, race and politics.

On Detroit's Focus:HOPE

"It was cool outside. The rain had stopped, but the dampness seeped into our bones with the chill of death."

A piece on eco-friendly travel to San Diego.

Advancing the annual Hatch, N. Mex., chili festival.

An Hour Detroit piece on bipolar disorder and Heinz Prechter's suicide.

Rick Wartzman's book on the burning of The Grapes of Wrath.

Long-shot presidential contender Duncan Hunter.

On the semi-annual opening of the Trinity site - where the first atomic bomb was detonated

Readings

Quite the World, Isn't It?

On Salinger, eco-terror and The Onion Field killer

January 28, 2010

Tags: books, history, writing, fiction, nonfiction

It's been a busy week, with a couple of wrinkles. First, I posted earlier about becoming the Los Angeles correspondent for Sphere.com. Well, AOL decided to kill the page and roll it into Aol News. So now I'm the Los Angeles correspondent for Aol News, which my editor tells me means nothing n terms of what I'll be doing -- and getting paid.

Good news, that.

But the gig has kept me firing this week. First I had a piece on the parole hearing Wednesday of Gregory Powell, the main gunman in the cop-killing that formed the basis of Jopseph Wambauigh's The Onion Field, a classic in the true-crime genre (and a bit of an intentional echo of Truman Capote's In Cold Blodd). Ironically, he's the only involv ed in the crime who is still alive. And his parole was turned down.

Then I co-wrote a piece with my old friend and former Detroit News colleague Allan Lengel on domestic eco-terrorism.

And a little bit ago I posted a shortish look at the death of J.D. Salinger - and the continued life of teen-age angst.

Yes, I'm ready for a nap.

Comments

February 4, 2010 8:34 PM EST

Belated congrats on the new gig, Scott. And thanks for the links -- good stuff!

- Shane L.

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