beckysue 
When I went searching for Hemingway’s fabled Two-Hearted River in 1994, there was only one paved road in all of Luce County, Michigan. My poor little Honda bounced along rutted dirt at 15 mph, with huge pickups blazing past, their drivers wondering what the hell a little white sedan was doing up in that country. … Read more
Marketing, of course, is all about knowing your audience. And there’s probably nothing that takes more sensitivity than marketing to families who have lost a loved one. This is a solicitation I received promoting video/photography services at Arlington National Cemetery, where my father will be buried next month. I can’t figure out if it offends … Read more
My father died last week, after a heartbreaking, years-long battle with Alzheimer’s. It was not unexpected, yet it hit me a little harder than I thought, even after all this time to prepare. My sister and I delivered the eulogy, and it was both the writing and public speaking job of a lifetime. As I … Read more
LinkedIn Answers is a pretty neat tool. People post questions on certain topics, like PR or Writing, and the LinkedIn universe offers answers. It’s a great way to get your questions answered and it’s useful for people who want to position themselves as experts (and enjoy the karmic benefits of helping others). Sometimes people post … Read more
There’s been some interesting debate on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere about the Clint Eastwood speech, which I labeled a debacle. Some people feel it was successful. It was an authentic moment with Clint being Clint and the crowd inside the hall ate it up. I wouldn’t disagree with any of that. It did seem to … Read more
Last night’s Clint Eastwood debacle at the Republican convention points to an imperative for anyone planning a conference or convention: control your message, control your speakers. It’s a difficult job and the convention planners and Romney’s staff either didn’t take it seriously or tried and failed. And it wasn’t just Eastwood that was a problem. … Read more
It’s easy to forget in our lawyered up society that some lessons are timeless and based on basic rules of fairness. Like the matter of intellectual property and what is and is not “free” on the Internet. I was reminded of this during a visit to a reconstructed Mandan Indian village in North Dakota. (Yes, … Read more
I consider certain truths to be self evident. Like the power of stories to move and persuade people. So I’m surprised when I have to justify this principle to someone. A while back I was interviewed by a grad student doing research and he wanted to know what facts and evidence I use to support … Read more
I bet that’s a headline you never thought you’d see. Ringwald has apparently written a novel, and in this New York Times piece she draws the connection between acting and writing. (Which I, obviously, find very astute. Right down to the headline: “Act Like a Writer.”) It’s a pretty thoughtful essay, and though it’s geared mainly … Read more
I cite David Mamet’s “master class memo on writing” so often I’ve probably worn a groove in the Internet. It’s must reading if you haven’t seen it — witty, insightful, profane … terribly punctuated. I was reminded it of it again by, of all things, a Spiderman comic. Now I don’t read the newspaper comics … Read more