The Room in the Elephant By Ben S. Pollock President National Society of Newspaper Columnists The board of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists has been cleaning up after the party in Detroit. While washing glasses and emptying the trash, we share the usual mix of gleeful recollection of anecdotes and recriminations about disasters that [...]
Members' Books
Suzette Standring in Humor Collection
Milton (MA) – Writer Suzette Martinez Standring is published in a book of stories about those embarrassing “comedy-of-error” moments that make us all human. “Mug of Woe: Tales to Make You Realize Your Life is Awesome” (Amazon Digital Services, $5.99 on Kindle, 223 pages, July 2011) features essays from over forty humorists and stand-up comedians [...]
Membership
Mystery of the Missing Donut
Overheard on the NSNC Discussions list was this humorous donut discussion: “I deny that I’ve ever been in a doughnut shop. I deny that I’ve ever seen a doughnut. I deny that I ate it. I deny that it was delicious,” ventured Bruce Cameron. Bob Haught confessed, “I admit that I’ve been in a doughnut shop, Britt’s [...]
Art of Column Writing
Give a little to get a lot
By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC Past President “Give a little to get a lot.” I never forgot this memorable advice from Mary McCarty of the Dayton Daily News, who has won awards for unique insights often revealed in the telling details about, and the quotations from, the people featured in her columns. I work at [...]
Newsletter
In the September newsletter
President Ben Pollock has some candid comments about NSNC’s present state and planning for the future. In her bi-monthly column, Suzette Standring passes along some advice that can make a big difference in an interview. Guest columnist Lenore Skomal tells how knocking on doors can open the way to success for a book author. Special [...]
Member News
Zezima book receives press award
Jerry Zezima’s book, “Leave It to Boomer,” recently won humor book of the year honors from the Connecticut Press Club. Jerry, also, was a recent guest on “Senior Moments,” a cable access TV program on Channel 20 on Long Island, N.Y. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists was mentioned on the show. http://www.vimeo.com/28073383 Zezima writes [...]
Member News
Bykofsky raises $$$ for children’s charity
Stu Bykofsky Stu Bykofsky, longtime columnist at the Philalphia Daily News, and recipient of the NSNC Will Rogers Humanitarian Award in 2003, is still at it. Past NSNC President, Bill Tammeus, commented, “Well, just so you know, he hasn’t quit doing the good things that won him that honor.” The event was the “21st Annual [...]
Member News
Bruce Cameron to speak in hometown
Petoskey, Michigan, is a quaint resort town in the upper part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, population around 6,000. The most exciting stories in headlines of the local paper talk about things like school lunch prices, parking in downtown, and a car accident on cemetery road. About the best thing going for Petoskey is tourism. [...]
Column Contest
New board members, conference, topics at board meeting
Brian O’Connor reported to the board on the outcome from the Detroit conference. Russell Frank said, “I think I speak for all that he did an amazing & much appreciated job.” Tracy Beckerman commented, “It was my first conference, but I was knocked out by it! Really felt very well-organized!’ Brian is still finalizing the last few [...]
Member News
Chartrand in Kansas City Star
David Chartrand recently wrote a column about his mother and father that appeared in the Kansas City Star called “Holding on to memories for dear life.” You can read the column on the KC Star website. Chartrand was the winner of a first place award in the 2002 NSNC writing contest. The humor and commentary [...]
Members' Books
A Humorous Collection of Ladies’ Lingo
Anna Lefler is the author of the forthcoming humor book The CHICKtionary: From A-Line to Z-Snap, the Words Every Woman Should Know, published by Adams Media. The book is scheduled for release this November and is available online for presale at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The CHICKtionary is a humorous dictionary of the words [...]
Member News
Opportunities from NSNC Collegues
Mike Argento, Past President writes: I have a new novel coming out this fall and the publisher asked me for a list of people to send advance review copies. So if anyone is interested, they can e-mail me at mike@ydr.com and I’ll pass it on. The book is titled “Don’t Be Cruel” and it’s about [...]
Members' Books
Rave Review for Lieber Book
Bad Dad Update The Fort Worth Weekly gives Dave Lieber a rave review on his latest book, “Bad Dad” telling more about the story covered in the book. Lieber and 11 year old son Austin were having breakfast at a McDonald’s not far from their home. Austin finished and started acting out, nagging Dad to [...]
Blog / Column
Blog on, Blog off
President’s Message By Ben S. Pollock President, National Society of Newspaper Columnists Instead of polishing this column, I should have been sewing nametags into my clothes and shaking out my sleeping bag for WordCamp. If I showed up with that stuff, even the geeks there would laugh. We’re all geeks at WordCamp, www.wordcamp.org. The [...]
Articles
We Border on a New Day
By Cynthia Borris NSNC Member Draped across the storefront the oversized banner beacons – Store Closing. One more time around, I circle the parking lot. Resigned to a long walk, I pull into a stall and reconsider. Do I really want to go to Borders today? Is there anything there that I need?Silent, I study [...]
You, the Columnist
What’s Your Best Column Ever?
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram Columnist www.YankeeCowboy.com Nice publicity hit on the top-15-columns-of-all-time survey at the NSNC conference. Book researcher polls our membership. Results make news. Thanks to Newsweek-The Daily Beast senior political columnist John Avlon for asking us to help him do research for his new book, Deadline [...]
Articles
Meet the NSNC Vice President
Larry Cohen It was the author G.K. Chesterton who explained that “journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones is Dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” I chose to assume that Chesterton was writing about the “news” side of the business. Much of the columnist business is devoted to explaining [...]
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