In the wake of my tasteless comments on Cathy Seipp’s unfortunate demise, it seemed I’d lost all my friends.
Without Cathy’s protection, I felt like a stray dog with rabies headed for the pound.
With trepidation, I stepped into Wednesday night’s L.A. Press Club/Reason Magazine party for John Stossel’s new book.
"Luke, what are you doing here?" said a friend of nine years. "Aren’t you afraid that someone is going to push you in the pool?"
Well, darling, if you will talk to me, then no, I don’t fear. After you’ve been knocked around by Mike Albo and dropped off in Boyle Heights, these press clubbers don’t seem quite so intimidating.
After that initial connection, the party was like old times. Sure, it may be a while before I can shnorr off Mox, Ray and Jackie, sure, a few more people will pass me by on the information superhighway without tossing coins into my virtual cup, but there are always new suckers coming down the WWW who’ll think I’m trustworthy.
Working at The L.A. Times has changed Matt Welch. He pauses before he speaks. He’s more responsible. His conversation philosophy is, "Do it right, do it once, do it long."
Amy Alkon (brought on as a moderator for the Festival of Books by Book Editor David Ulin) buttonholed LAT publisher David Hiller twice over the weekend, giving him the story of how she was excluded from the paper for referring in an LAT article to her breasts as motivators for police to find her stolen car.
I saw some hot chicks at the party but none hotter than these girls.
Here’s the audio from John Stossel’s talk Wednesday night.
Video: Stossel Reception – Volume I Stossel Reception – Volume II Slideshow – www.myspace.com/lapressclub
From Amazon.com on Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong: "When he hit the airwaves thirty years ago, Stossel helped create a whole new category of news, dedicated to protecting and informing consumers. As a crusading reporter, he chased snake-oil peddlers, rip-off artists, and corporate thieves, winning the applause of his peers. But along the way, he noticed that there was something far more troublesome going on: While the networks screamed about the dangers of exploding BIC lighters and coffeepots, worse risks were ignored. And while reporters were teaming up with lawyers and legislators to stick it to big business, they seldom reported the ways the free market made life better…In "Give Me a Break" Stossel explains how ambitious bureaucrats, intellectually lazy reporters, and greedy lawyers make your life worse even as they claim to protect your interests."
