Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East”
November 10, 2021
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Everything in Beirut has the forgiving blue light of the Mediterranean, its outstretched arms embracing
But here we are. I almost called this site My Charmed Life, but that felt like a bit much. There’s been some charm, sure, but I’m more of a stray dog with a bowtie than anything polished or predictable.
I was born in Selma, Alabama, but raised in Oak Park, Illinois, home of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway. One of them built houses. The other drank and complained about writing.
I took the writer’s path early. I wrote for Trapeze, the same high school paper as Papa, then haunted the campus of Southern Illinois University, where attending class was more of a suggestion.
I made it to Los Angeles with a checkered teenage past and a kind of reckless professionalism, equal parts ambition and poor impulse control.
I was a delinquent when I met Russell, a hotshot record promoter who was absolutely certain he knew best about everything, including me. He wasn’t wrong. When I was a mess, he showed up. When I needed a door opened, he opened it. We had crazy love and still do. Russell got me my first job at one of the largest talent agencies, and in a lot of ways made me who I am. I’ve never quite figured out how to stay mad at him.
At ICM, I delivered scripts to movie stars, packages to rock stars that were definitely not scripts, and was once greeted by a young Nick Nolte in his underpants.
Still one of my favorite Tuesdays.
CAA poached me after reading my script synopses. I landed at the desk of Martin Baum, famously one of the meanest bosses in Hollywood. He yelled at me daily, publicly, and with real flair. It was brutal. I loved him.
I was a personal manager and signed Howie Mandel early in his career, then Sandra Bernhard. I produced some of Howie’s HBO specials and helped shepherd Sandra’s Without You, I’m Nothing from a hit off-Broadway show into a cult film that still impresses people who are impossible to impress. Both are still friends. Keepers.
I was young. I had too much money. I never met a drug I didn’t at least flirt with at a party.
There were the bodybuilding years. Yes, really. Then a period best described as foggy, freelance-y, and feral.
I pulled myself together and started a company that, somehow, someone bought. Then came Comedy World, a 24/7 streaming radio network in a dial-up world that went bust with the rest of the dot-coms.
Then I lost Billy, the one who knew everything and loved me anyway. It broke me in ways I’m still counting.
Sirius Satellite Radio kept the lights on while I went fetal. Then Jamie, someone I grew up with at CAA, took a chance and gave me a job at Discovery, where I zigzagged through nearly every network in the portfolio. Including a fourteen-month stretch at Oprah’s OWN. Which is about all I can say about that.
In 2015, two friends pulled me over to NatGeo/Disney+, and I’ve been here ever since. Solid people. Funny, challenging, and more than a few have become real friends. I also get to do it all in the same building where Walt Disney once had his office, which still gets me every single morning.
On Labor Day of ’21, I met someone who unfroze my heart after twenty years. You’ll meet him, sometimes in code. I got very lucky.
Bill Ledbetter left his handprint on my heart. He’ll always be my Guyster.
The rest of it is scattered around here if you feel like digging.
Everything in Beirut has the forgiving blue light of the Mediterranean, its outstretched arms embracing
When I toured Byblos four years ago, there was a tiny shop tended by an
I had a 1:20a flight out of Yangon and I’m now nestled in an airport
For some reason, I’ve avoided Paris since I was twenty-four, a trip punctuated by my
More than 24 hours after the explosion of Reactor 4, the people of neighboring Pripyat
This city is beautifully shabby, the people are warm, the shops beg for more tourism,
I had a 1:20a flight out of Yangon and I’m now nestled in an airport
If I was back in the US, I’d have gone to the emergency room immediately,
I met Sameer last night, a driver with an air-conditioned box cab who’s curried enough
My tour guide, Shailesh, grew up in Dharavi, the second largest slum in the world,
The best upgrade in my life at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.
Everything in Beirut has the forgiving blue light of the Mediterranean, its outstretched arms embracing
When I toured Byblos four years ago, there was a tiny shop tended by an
I arrived in Berlin just in time to see the cottonwood trees shed themselves for
Buffet sushi in Bogota. Raise your hand if you think that’s a good idea. What?
Buffet sushi in Bogota. Raise your hand if you think that’s a good idea. What?
Buffet sushi in Bogota. Raise your hand if you think that’s a good idea. What?
Buffet sushi in Bogota. Raise your hand if you think that’s a good idea. What?
The British colonized Api Api, an exotic port on the South China Sea and named
This guy is the reason to go to Sabah on the other coast from Kota
I don’t think I’d hit puberty, yet, when I first saw Hitchcock’s remake of his
It was about half past midnight and I was four beers deep when I left
Orson Welles made Essaouira world famous when he filmed Othello in this bleached white fortress
Orson Welles made Essaouira world famous when he filmed Othello in this bleached white fortress
I don’t think I’d hit puberty, yet, when I first saw Hitchcock’s remake of his
It was about half past midnight and I was four beers deep when I left
I’m staying in Galle Fort, built in 1588 by the Portuguese and fortified in the
This trip had some crummy travel, the outbound flight arriving past midnight and the return
Saint Petersburg is an aggressively ornate city, as if they wanted to show the French
Saint Petersburg is an aggressively ornate city, as if they wanted to show the French
My tour guide, Shailesh, grew up in Dharavi, the second largest slum in the world,
I met Sameer last night, a driver with an air-conditioned box cab who’s curried enough
My tour guide, Shailesh, grew up in Dharavi, the second largest slum in the world,
I got out of the flip flops area of San Giljan and toured Valletta, the
The Centro Historico exemplifies the fact that Mexico City was built on top of a
The Centro Historico exemplifies the fact that Mexico City was built on top of a
Hanging with the girls today at an all female elephant sanctuary, a place that rescues
More than 24 hours after the explosion of Reactor 4, the people of neighboring Pripyat
This city is beautifully shabby, the people are warm, the shops beg for more tourism,
For some reason, I’ve avoided Paris since I was twenty-four, a trip punctuated by my
While the people are warm, the city is shadowed by a tragic history. Those I’ve
Kraków is tricky, especially shopping at the flea market where the treasures of those slaughtered
This is the most difficult city I’ve ever visited, a place that refuses to bend
This is the most difficult city I’ve ever visited, a place that refuses to bend
There’s walking and then there’s Petra walking. I think my feet are still inside my
The accordion music floated in the air drawing me closer to see the little dog
The accordion music floated in the air drawing me closer to see the little dog
Everything in Beirut has the forgiving blue light of the Mediterranean, its outstretched arms embracing
When I toured Byblos four years ago, there was a tiny shop tended by an
I learned quickly after a cab clipped my hip. When you want to cross the
If I was back in the US, I’d have gone to the emergency room immediately,
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