At a time when print journalism is rapidly fading away, there is a need for a book about the day-to-day life of a newspaper and magazine writer. This memoir by award-winning writer James L. Dickerson is such a book. In addition to providing exciting stories about investigative reporting and investigative editorial writing (a concept he developed at The Commercial Appeal of Memphis), the book pulls back the newsroom curtain on the many intrigues and scandals that happen behind the scenes at a daily newspaper.
Currently celebrating 50 years of journalism, James L. Dickerson is one of the most successful journalists in the South. He has been a staff writer for three Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers while writing for magazines and authoring more than 30 books on investigative history and investigative biography (one of his investigative biographies Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager was purchased by Warner Bros. for director Baz Luhrmann for his upcoming Elvis movie starring Tom Hanks).
In a fascinating transition from college rock musician to civil rights activist to Vietnam War resister, Dickerson enters the world of investigative journalism. His style of reporting is unique in that he assumes different personas for different interviews, becoming Bogart's Sam Spade (hence the book cover), Johnny Cash and Clark Kent-and he is one of the very few reporters to carry a gun on difficult assignments. For that reason, reading this memoir is like reading a Dashiell Hammett mystery novel.
Go on assignment with Dickerson when he investigates the Shah of Iran's sudden appearance in Jackson, Mississippi during the Iran hostage crisis; when he organizes a nude pictorial for Playboy on the "Girls of Country Music"; when he chases after Bill Clinton for a Q&A interview for Playboy; when Omni magazine asks him to investigate historical murder cases; when he interviews the first Marine Corps pilot in history; when he interviews the stars of country, blues and rock music; and when he romances one of the first women to be elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives; and much more as he writes more than 30 investigative books on civil rights, hate crimes, and internment camps, to name just a few.
Author Biography:
After a career as a journalist for three Pulitzer Prize winning dailies, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, the Clarion Ledger-Jackson Daily News, and the Delta Democrat-Times of Greenville (MS), James L. Dickerson began a career as a full-time author focusing on investigative history and investigative biography. His book Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager was purchased by Warner Bros. for its upcoming Elvis movie starring Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker. His book Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock 'n' Roll earned a first place award from the Independent Publishers Association, and two music-related books, Goin' Back to Memphis (since republished as Memphis Going Down) and That's Alright, Elvis, co-written with Elvis Presley's first guitarist, Scotty Moore, were finalists for the prestigious Gleason Award (formerly presented by Rolling Stone, BMI, and New York University). The authorized biographer, Dickerson co-wrote a second book with Scotty Moore titled Scotty & Elvis. He is the author of the first comprehensive book about women in music, Women on Top: The Quiet Revolution That's Rocking the American Music Industry, published in 1998 by Billboard Books.Dickerson was the editor and publisher of Nine-O-One Network, at one time the third largest circulation music magazines in the United States, behind Rolling Stone and Spin. The magazine was the first magazine published in the South to obtain newsstand distribution in all 50 states. The magazine also had distribution in most European countries. In Russia it was read by underground radio announcers who worked to overthrow Communist Party domination.Dickerson is the editor and publisher of Sartoris Literary Group, one of the most successful non-academic trade book publishers in the South. Sartoris has been licensed to publish the works of William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, and others. As a freelance writer and book critic he has worked for the Toronto Star, Baltimore Sun, BookPage, Good Housekeeping, Playboy, Penthouse, Omni, the Tennessean, and others.
