And that someone as visibly, pronouncedly Jewish should forever share her moment with Hepburn, celluloid’ s ultimate WASP exemplar, makes that announcement even more of a milestone. So who should know better to chronicle Streisand in Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand than author William J. Mann, who has previously penned the insightful biography Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn?

While the title cribs from Streisand’s signature, first line in Funny Girl, the movie that nabbed her her first Oscar, Mann never gets to that point. Instead, he focuses on a smaller window of her life, from 1960 to 1964, as the ambitious performer first made it out of the Brooklyn house dominated by her tough mother, Diana Kind, and began her launch into the stratosphere. He homes in on the gray areas usually bypassed in James Lipton’s useless Inside the Actor’s Studio filmographies. And so Gorgeous becomes a simultaneous dissection of a woman, a star, a talent and an industry all at once.

Meticulously researched and told with a cunning sense of acuity, Gorgeous provides enough personal details to whet the appetite without veering into overly salacious territory. Mann recounts Streisand’s family background – the father she lost before her second birthday, her mother’s remarriage and the rancorous relationship between the two women. He provides new accounts of her early sexual fumblings and the start of her relationship with first husband Elliott Gould, his subsequent drug use and her eventual straying. And if he gives short shrift to her early recording successes and Emmy and Grammy wins, his detailed account of ascent to Broadway stardom in I Can Get It For You Wholesale and then attachment to the Fanny Brice story in Girl remain a testament to a day when stardom still required both pluck and talent.

Most important of all, however, was how Streisand wore her ethnicity on her sleeve. Her refusal to alter her nose or name and her penchant for over-enunciating were both a shtick and a calling card. Mann dwells on how she forced people to look at her as is, which was a gamble, equal parts brave and stupid. While other Jewish actresses had become familiar to audiences (including Judy Holliday), most were relegated to character actress status. Streisand would blast past all of them. Through a series of interviews with such subjects as Kaye Ballard and Lainie Kazan, Mann carves a very human portrait.  He details the nerves and insecurities that came her way as a performer, even as the encomiums did as well. He acknowledges that she was never known to say “thank you,” but also highlights the rare instances when she did.

Gorgeous was not authorized by its subject, but nor was Mann’s access to information blocked in any way. It differs from other treatises on the woman who would sing “I’m the Greatest Star” in that instead of charting the course of her life and career – divorce, diva reputation, refusal to perform live – it focuses on the mechanics of the roller coaster that would lead to all the ups and downs. And this tome, at more than 500 pages, is quite the well-oiled machine. It’s a must for those who know nothing about La Streisand as well as for those who think they already know it all.

For more information about Hello, Gorgeous, go to williamjmann.com.

After thirteen years teaching at the New School, Luis Jaramillo has helped his fair share of students get book deals. Now, with The Doctor’s Wife (Dzank), the Fort Greene, Brooklyn resident, who lives with his boyfriend of eleven years, has released his own. During an interview at his Greenwich Village office, Jaramillo, 37, explained why being in the heart of New York’s publishing community can sometimes be depressing.

JV: Has there been an advantage to being at the center the writing world with your job at the New School?

LJ: Going to publishing events always makes me really depressed because the way the editors talk about books is different than the way the writers talk about books. Editors and agents talk about books purely about how something can be sold. That’s the opposite of how many writers view books. To spend all your time writing something, you have to really like what you’re doing.

The poetic novel is set in the Pacific North-West.  Although it recently became a book of the week on Oprah’s Book Club, it’s not exactly John Grisham or Tom Clancy territory. How did you get it published?

When I first showed the book to my agent he said, “Sometimes writers write things that they only write for themselves.” Of course we want to sell the things we write but it’s hard to write a something that you’re not emotionally vested in. I put this book aside for year. Then my grandmother died and I thought, “Screw it, I’m just going to send this thing out. What’s the difference, who cares?” Basically I sent this book out as a manuscript for the Dzank literary contest in 2010 and totally forgot about it and got a call three months later from Dan Wicket, the editor of Dzank Books. I’d won and they wanted to publish my book. They are a small publisher from Ann Arbor, Michigan known for their experimental fiction.

You started off as a student at the New School and are now the Associate Chair of the writing program. Did you get free tuition?

In a way. While I was doing my MFA at the New School I started working as a receptionist. After the MFA I worked as a secretary and did some teaching. When the Creative Director of the writing program left, I was offered the job which was around 7 years ago.

Name some of the authors who have changed your life.

Abigail Thomas,  Mark Twain, Graham Greene, Tolstoy. Hilton Als and Abigail Thomas were great teachers. I got to know them well. Abi’s advice to me was “Everything can be used” which is a nice way of living in the world as a writer. Hilton’s advice was “write everyday.”

I heard you are also a yoga instructor?

Yes it’s something that runs alongside everything else I do. It helps you live in the world in a mindful way.

What’s your advice to aspiring writers?

Write a book. I teach a novel class and I meet lots of people who want to write a book and a lot of times they think that an idea is all that they need. You really have to put the time and effort into it and then, good luck. Persistence can never be under estimated. My advice is “keep on trying.”

What is the first thing you would say to a person who is suffering financial hardship or loss? Can they really alter their destiny by changing their mindset?

We can always alter our destiny by changing our mindset, but sometimes changing our mindset isn’t easy. When we’re depressed, fearful, anxious and so forth, it’s not so easy as simply saying, “Okay, I’ll just decide not to feel this way!” That’s where a belief in a higher power comes in. Sometimes we need to pray for help in changing our mindset. The Law of Divine Compensation is concerned with the kinds of thoughts that both attract and deflect miraculous breakthroughs in our financial and work lives. In a self-organizing and self-correcting universe, healing is natural; correction is natural; miracles are natural. We’re so convinced that everything that goes up must go down; what we need is a realization that everything that goes down will eventually go back up!

But when we are in the midst of struggle, frustration, stress and anxiety, how do we go about realigning our thoughts and opening our minds to the possibility of a miracle?

By prayer, forgiveness, compassion, self-awareness. By practicing the discipline of a more loving way of thinking and being in the world.

You mentioned forgiveness, and have said in the past that forgiveness is the most powerful tool for new beginnings. Why is this so?

Love produces miracles automatically. When we’re not forgiving someone, it’s like we’re putting a barrier in front of our hearts. And wherever there’s a barrier to love, there’s a barrier to miracles. Forgiveness is when we stand on faith in what lies beyond. Beyond what people did lies the reality of whom they are. 

In the book you say faith is visionary (not blind) — can you explain?

When a pilot has low visibility, he doesn’t assume there’s not a horizon; he simply flies on instruments. That’s what faith is: simply knowing that something is there, whether or not you can see it. What you know is there is an all-loving, self-organizing, self-correcting universe – but sometimes we can’t see it! Faith is the spiritual equivalent of flying on instruments.

The subtitle of your book refers to Work, Money and Miracles. What does the Law of Divine Compensation say about each?

That our work on earth is to serve love; that money is one of the ways that the love we put out into the world then comes back to us; and miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.

Comedian Lee Camp has finally released a book version of Moment of Clarity, his clever web series of political rants. Published in both paperback and e-book formats, Clarity anthologizes 90 of the smart humorists best position pieces and adds in twenty never-before-seen photos of Occupy protests. As the book demonstrates, smart humor is quite possible, as Camp emerges as a Gen-Y Lewis Camp.

Camp is an informed liberal with no qualms about calling people out on their hypocrisy, laziness, or general small-mindedness. Topics in his F-word-riddled book include witty ruminations on everything from the truth about American history (“When kids get lied to, they grow up to be first-rate douche-tards. It’s a proven fact”) to lab-grown meat (“the only reason you can say you prefer cow meat over lab-grown meat is if you insist you prefer your beef taco has the slight taste of memories”) to a slanted take on Wikileaks (“I knew it was the most wonderful invention since Oprah created a sexual preference that’s neither gay nor straight”).

While sarcasm is usually a tool for more insecure people to use in conversation, Camp wields his like a weapon. Using a distinct voice that combines current low-brow conversational slang with erudite wisdom and research, Camp cuts through behavioral BS. Witness his take on death row inmate Troy Davis, arrested at the age of twenty for killing a police officer, who remains there even though seven of nine witnesses have since recanted their statements in the ensuing two decades. On top of that, one of the two remaining witnesses is actually considered by many to be the true culprit. The comedian-writer mocks zealous Georgia governor Nathan Deal while also exhorting the public to wise up to gross miscarriages of justice, both legal and social, over their more mundane concerns (Davis was ultimately, and controversially, put to death in September 2011).

Camp’s voice finds a firm middle ground between angry humor and urgent seriousness, making both sides of the spectrum accessible. And his range of interest is certainly versatile, running the gamut from Justin Bieber to reinstating the draft. In short, he’s a humane observer, keen on opening up everyone else’s eyes. There is a great deal of thought put into his work.

For those who are also interested in viewing the man in action, Clarity provides YouTube links atop every essay so readers can check out the corresponding video clips of Camp’s smart tirades. This is more than just an extra step of self-promotion. Camp is vitally interested in forging a real connection with the audience he so fervently exhorts to action. One of the most salient points this ribald, attention-worthy comedian makes is that we’re all in this together.

Check out more information at www.leecamp.net.

Waclawiak, who was born in Poland but had been living in Los Angeles, decided she needed to “work out [her] issues in an immigrant novel.”

She began querying agents at the end of her MFA program, but after 25 unsuccessful queries, thought she might be going about it the wrong way.

The agents who did respond told her the protagonist of her novel, How to Get Into the Twin Palms, was “too unlikeable.”

“You have to do something to make this character likable,” they said. “Make it a murder mystery.” But Waclawiak was determined to find someone who would publish her book for what it was.

Waclawiak figured it was time to go straight to the publishers instead. She began looking at small presses, particularly those that published books she already loved. Waclawiak drew up what she considered a pretty good query letter and again began the waiting process.

Small, Ohio-based publishing house Two Dollar Radio finally reached out to Waclawiak — they wanted to publish her debut novel. Two Dollar Radio runs on an open manuscript submission process and you don’t need a literary agent to publish with them. Their motto is “Books Too Loud to Ignore.”

Emily Pullen, who works for Two Dollar Radio, said one thing they look for is writers with authority over the worlds they create. When working with writers on edits, Pullen said she’s more inclined to ask questions to get the author thinking than make suggestions. The whole process works a little bit like a drawn-out psychoanalysis session. Small presses tend to “do more interesting things,” according to Pullen and Waclawiak.

Once Two Dollar Radio decided to publish Waclawiak’s book, the agents began calling.

Waclawiak’s advice for other first-time novelists — or writers of any genre — can be distilled into a couple key points.

• If you’re in love with your book the way it is, consider bypassing the agent process. Agents can be helpful, but they also look for very specific things and may request changes you feel compromise the integrity and authenticity of your work.
• Be confident and creative about getting your manuscript out there. Look for small presses with open submission policies and contact publishers directly. Large publishers might not take unsolicited manuscripts, so look to small presses if you’re not getting anywhere with literary agents.
• Even if agents tear your book apart, that doesn’t mean it’s terrible. It’s still possible others will love it, and, furthermore, it’s still possible to be entertained by unlikeable characters. Think about your audience and realize it’s not going to be everyone. Don’t write for anyone specifically (other than yourself). 
• Have patience. The timeframe between acquiring a book and publishing for a small press can be up to two years, but the timeframe is even longer at a major publishing house.
• Consider your book cover carefully. Even if you think it’s too off-the-wall, for instance, it might be just the draw reviewers need to pick up your book and review it. (Even small publishers get great review attention.)
• Again, get creative. Reach out to sellers directly to extend your exposure. Use Twitter to your advantage, but be a person with an organic approach, and not a sleazy, self-promoting robot. Talk to authors, bookstores and bloggers. Develop relationships. Look to online communities of book-lovers, like Goodreads. Get involved with reading series and book clubs.
• Be a real person. Publishers recommend books when they have positive associations with the author, not just when they like the book.
• Self-publishing is an option, but publishers provide an often much-needed outside perspective. You may be too close to your own work and can get more with someone else’s expertise — from within the industry — or editorial eye.
• Small publishers don’t tend to feel betrayed when an author moves on — they know that’s the name of the game. Small presses have limitations. Small presses also come in all different shapes and sizes, with varying rates of distribution. Look to a resource like Poets & Writers to find publishers.
• Keep at it. Be open to suggestions. Kill your darlings, but don’t go too extreme. Know yourself and your limits. It’s okay to not be universally awesome, and sometimes it’s better to experience the love-hate extremes. According to Waclawiak, many of her MFA peers hated her manuscript. If you want it badly enough, you’ll figure it out.
• Keep your day job…for now.

—Alissa Fleck 

By Angela Barbuti

Bruce Springsteen gets a lot of play—literally. Even President Obama has said, “I’m the president, but he’s the Boss.” And now, after more than 30 years of research, Peter Ames Carlin finally put his respect for the musician down on paper. Replete with interviews from Bruce’s family, the E Street Band and Bruce himself, Carlin has recorded a biography that lives up to all the hype it has generated. Bruce, released Oct. 30, has won the honor of a four-star rating from Rolling Stone. On Nov. 14, the author will be at Barnes & Noble at 18th Street to sign his book, which is the perfect holiday gift for the Bruce fan in your life.

You began writing the book in the fall of 2009, but your interest in Bruce dates back to when you went to a concert of his in 1978. 

I had been collecting material and knowledge starting as a 15-year-old, when I saw Bruce’s show in the fall of ’78 on the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. The show was kind of—I don’t want to say “life changing,” that’s a bit much—but it altered my sense of music and possibility. It resonated with me, and I carried that for decades.

After a year and a half of writing on your own, Bruce’s manager, Jon Landau, called you.

I was doing research on my own with no connection at all to Bruce. I was speaking to a ton of people before that—old friends, people from Freehold and Asbury Park, and veterans from Columbia Records who were extremely eager to talk. The phone rang in January of 2011 while I was sitting in my office—my basement here in Portland—and it was Jon. We got together the next week for a drink, and from that point on, Jon became super-helpful and gave the green light to friends, collaborators and band members.

What surprised you about Bruce?

We spent a lot of time together. Everyone told me along the way that he’s pretty much exactly who you think he is. In a way, that was very true. It was clear to me from his work that he’s a very intense, complicated and, in some ways, conflicted person. He is enormously charming, but there’s also a distance around him to a degree. He wears his moods and inner tension close to the surface.

Photo by Elizabeth S. Ames

You conducted the last major interview with Clarence Clemons. What was he like?

I had a couple days’ worth of interviews with him just a couple of months before he died. Physically, he was a little compromised; he had just had another bout of surgery. He was doing a lot of physical therapy, trying to get in shape for this tour. Mentally, he was incredibly smart, funny, sensitive and intense. He had a lot to talk about and was very excited to do so, which was cool.

You list Bruce’s many accomplishments—120 million albums sold, 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. Why do you think he’s able to do so much?

Bruce is, in a lot of ways, a self-invented human being. But these threads—the energy, drive and passion—come from his mom’s side of the family. The part that helps him work onstage for three to four hours a night and pursue his art for 50 years now. His mom’s side is this very vibrant, hilarious, hard-working Italian family. His dad had a lot of emotional problems, and there has been a lot of darkness on that side of the family. The disturbance in Bruce’s soul that has branded him came through his dad’s side.

You dedicate the book to your wife, Sarah, and thank her for thinking of the title. Besides that, did she help along the way?

[Laughs] She helped me by making it okay for me to disappear for weeks on end. And there was a point halfway through the process where I quit the job I had for 10-plus years at The Oregonian. Things had gotten kind of unpleasant there for me, and I knew it was time to move on. When the Bruce thing really got rolling, I had the sense that if anything is worth throwing all your eggs in a basket for, it’s this book that no one else had the chance to do yet. My wife encouraged me to do exactly that.

You mention Café Wha? and Kenny’s Castaways as part of Bruce’s early life. What role do you see New York City as having in his development? 

Oh my gosh—a big role. As big as his earlier bands were in New Jersey and the South, they never tried to play New York for some reason. When he started building his career as a professional recording artist, that drew him to New York. His becoming familiar with it and seeing the world from that perspective transformed his sense of possibility. If you listen to “New York City Serenade” and “Incident on 57th Street,” the impact is everywhere.

Did you listen to Bruce’s music as you were writing his biography? 

Well, sure. I mean, I listened to Bruce music when I was writing about everything else over the years. [Laughs] It’s just part of my internal soundtrack.

What is your favorite Bruce song?

[Laughs] It sort of depends on the day or the hour. The songs have been part of my life on a step-by-step basis since I was a sophomore in high school. “Racing in the Streets” from Darkness. I just feel that there’s something vital in that song that comes from so deep.

What do you think the future holds for Bruce and the E Street Band?

At this point, it seems he’s very committed to the band and to keeping the group going. Bruce himself as an artist, songwriter, musician and performer—he’ll do that for the rest of his life. Because that’s who he is—it’s what makes him alive.

Mark Phair

NaNoWriMo, which describes its rigorous program as “Thirty Days and Thirty Nights of Literary Abandon,” may sound like a carefree, hallucinogenic-fueled retreat for the literarily ambitious, but the group has more of a take-no-prisoners approach.  

Mark Phair is a software developer and new father in Seattle, who dreams of days spent splitting his time between his programming day job and his love of writing, filmmaking and podcasting.

Molly Watson, also Seattle-based, is a website designer who hopes to someday be published and make a career of telling stories.

While Phair has a longstanding love of writing — he wrote his first short story in the third grade — he has amassed extensive training for a full-time software job he enjoys, and acknowledges his dream, while ideal, is not currently feasible.

That’s why Phair participates in NaNoWriMo, or November’s National Novel Writing Month, the annual, month-long program for writers and non-writers from every walk of life, and all over the world, who want to try their hand at writing a rapid-fire novel. For some, the fast pace and quantity over quality attitude is just the motivation they need.

Watson, currently unemployed, decided this was the year for her to give NaNoWriMo a shot as well.

“I’m looking for full-time employment,” she said. “Adding a positive activity like writing every day helps break-up the daily grind of writing cover letters and scouring the wastes of Craigslist.”

Of the 36,843 participants who produced the requisite respective 50,000 words last year by the November 30 deadline, the organization’s website explains: “They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.” Beyond the minimum word count, NaNoWriMo does not have too many requirements of its writers, and aims to make the process as fun and communal as possible.

NaNoWriMo is far from easy though. Phair says he’s attempted it already four or five times, resulting in several unfinished novels. He also describes the difficulty in balancing his life during the writing process, learning to get over the guilt associated with not writing. Even in responding to my interview questions, Phair confessed: “I can’t help but feel like I should be writing right now.”

Watson echoed the difficulty for an amateur writer in striking a balance. “I did a few warm-up days,” she explained. “Each time I’d sit down to write and feel instantly blank. I kept remembering the 40 or 50 other things that I just HAD to do. I’d type out the first sentence, and flee to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for distraction.”

She also worries it may be too late to live out her dream. “I’m far too old (29) to start being a writer now anyway, so what’s the

Molly Watson

point?” said Watson.

Despite the setbacks, Watson describes breakthroughs in the process as well: “You have an inkling that maybe what you’re writing isn’t the greatest thing ever, or is quite possibly the worst thing ever, but you don’t really care, because it’s just so much FUN.”

Organizers encourage writers — everywhere from Kenya to Tuscaloosa — to meet with other “wrimos” in their area and bond over the often-laborious writing process.

“That’s one of the truly unique things about NaNoWriMo,” said Watson. “There’s such a sense of community and belonging.”

Phair’s writing community consists of colleagues he’s convinced to write with him over their work hour at lunch. With them, he tosses around lines and ideas from his novel — his current story most closely resembles the Illuminatis trilogy, which he calls his favorite read.

It’s what Phair describes as “zany conspiracy with a (un?)healthy dose of parody and satire.”

Phair may not quit his day job and become a professional writer any time soon, but in the meantime, he finds ways to fuse his love of writing with his knack for technology.

“I’m such a geek that I often write programs to support my writing,” explained Phair. “This year, so far, I’ve written a program to help me keep track of (inside the frame of the story) how many days until the apocalypse. The biggest number it’s needed to spit out so far is 723,077.”

And, it’s worth mentioning, you don’t just have to be a Seattle tech-person to find your literary stride with NaNoWriMo.

—Alissa Fleck 

“Being a Yankee meant something and still does,” Yogi Berra states in Marty Appel’s new book Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from before the Babe to after the Boss. Unlike most Yankee biographies that have been published, Appel’s book is a narrative history of the famous team with insights from some of baseball’s greatest legends.

“Baseball was my game, and I was always a Yankee fan,” Appel said. After going to the 1955 World Series and witnessing the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Yankees, Appel felt bad that they lost and from then on followed the Bronx Bombers.

Appel, an Upper West Side resident, was promoted by Steinbrenner in the early 1970s and became the youngest public relations director in Major League Baseball. Working behind the scenes with the team, he witnessed history and became close with many former and current players.

“It was remarkable, like baseball cards coming to life,” Appel said.

His first job with the Yankees was answering Mickey Mantle’s fan mail during the late 1960s. He said at first he was shocked that Mantle even knew his name, but as his work for the team continued, the awe of being surrounded by stars faded and it became his profession.

Appel heard many stories from the players about World War II. “Some people may not know it, but Yogi Berra was the only MLB player to be at D-Day, and he described it like fireworks on the Fourth of July,” Appel noted.

During the war, he also learned, when fans attended games they were given instructions on where to take cover if they came under attack. “The directions were, ‘in the event of an air raid, the game is official if five innings have been played, and whichever team is leading is declared the winner,’” Appel said.

The famous and controversial George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees when he was 42 years old, and Appel worked for The Boss in his earliest days with the team.
“When he came to the Yankees, he was young, vibrant and at the top of his game. There were some days that would be frustrating because he was not quick to compliment, but history shows he was a winner and made the franchise what it is today.”

Appel said that even the most avid Yankee fan could learn something new from the book. “Many people do not know how important Jacob Ruppert was to the Yankees. He owned the team from 1915-1938 and developed the dynasty. Ruppert built the stadium and purchased Babe Ruth, but his importance is largely forgotten,” Appel explained.

Asked to pick his Yankee dream team, Appel dug deep from the rich history of the team, including Yogi Berra as catcher, Lou Gehrig at first base, Robinson Cano at second, Derek Jeter as short stop, Alex Rodriguez at third base as well as Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Joe Torre as the manager and Mariano Rivera as the closer.

The Upper West Side is part of Yankee history too. Appel explained that Babe Ruth spent much of his life here, residing at various addresses in the area, including an apartment on the seventh floor of 345 W. 88th St.

Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from before the Babe to after the Boss is now available in bookstores.

By Angela Barbuti

Andrew McCarthy will forever be part of the iconic group of teenage actors from the ’80s known as the Brat Pack. And to this day, people still talk to him about it. After an audition on the Upper West Side, he began his career in 1983 with the movie Class, and went on to star in St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink. His new book, The Longest Way Home, outlines his career as a travel writer. As an editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler, he often lives in a “jet-lagged state,” but still looks forward to coming back to the Upper East Side. The 49-year-old New Jersey native has called New York City home since he started NYU at 17. When he is not in the Amazon, he can be found enjoying a burger with his wife and two children at the Corner Bistro.

You auditioned and were accepted into NYU. How long did you spend there?
Two years, then they kicked me out.

What do you remember about that time?
Washington Square was an entirely different place than it is now. [Laughs] Rastas used to hang around and play soccer and sell joints. I was a 17-year-old kid from New Jersey, so it was a great time to discover the city.

Your first audition was at the Ansonia Hotel. Did you think you would get that part?
[Laughs] I did it ’cause I had nothing to do and just got kicked out of school. A friend said they were looking for someone 18, vulnerable and sensitive. I’m like, “that’s me!” And I had just had a headshot done; a friend of mine was a photographer. I waited in the hallway for several hours with several hundred other 18, vulnerable and sensitive kids. And 10 auditions later … but no, it never had occurred to me that I would get the job.

In your book you said that Pretty In Pink spoke to a generation of young women and men. Why do you think it resonated with so many people?
I have no idea. [Pauses] Because it took seriously young people’s problems.

Do people still come up to you about it?
All the time. They pass it down to their kids now. We’re on to the second generation of people watching it.

Is it true you met the editor of National Geographic Traveler and asked if you could write for him?
I told him he should let me write for him. I didn’t ask. [Laughs] And he took a year to say yes. He said, “You’re an actor, dude.” And I said, “Yeah, but I know how to tell a story.”

Had you given it much thought beforehand?
I had been traveling a great deal and writing about it, but just for myself. I tried to keep a journal, but I found that silly and embarrassing. So I began to write stories, and as an actor I used dialogue and character. I did that for 10 years and would just come home and throw them in the back of my dresser drawer.

You said the writer Paul Theroux influenced how you travel.
His books had a big impact on me. His idea is go alone, go far, go for a long time. So I did. I went long, far, and I didn’t come back. I was a young, single guy at the time. It was better than hanging around the bars, wasn’t it? [Laughs]

What are your favorite places in the world?
I love Patagonia. I thought that was pretty spectacular. I just recently returned from Telluride, Colorado, which I thought was pretty fantastic. When I used to live downtown, my favorite view of the world was coming across the Williamsburg Bridge. Now I live uptown, and my favorite view is coming across the Triboro Bridge. I love that feeling of coming home and coming over the rise there.

In your book you spoke about being a member of the Brat Pack.
It has come to be this iconic group capturing a time. Whenever I see them, I have a great affection for them. It’s interesting because 25 years later, it’s still something that’s talked about. And a lot of these people have had some pretty interesting careers.

To learn more about McCarthy’s upcoming projects and book events, visit www.andrewmccarthy.com

Tony Danza speaks of his new book and the rumor he’s running for mayor

By Angela Barbuti

Tony Danza went back to being the boss—but this time it was in front of a classroom. In 2009, the then almost 60-year-old actor decided to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher, taking on a high school English class in Philadelphia, which was filmed as a series on A&E. In I’d like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had, available on Sept. 11, he describes the journey with his class, which included a lot of laughter, and many tears. The West Side resident is now back in New York City and reveals that he’s working on a new scripted sitcom for ABC, and is not, contrary to rumors, running for mayor.

After your talk show was canceled, you followed your original career path, which was to teach. Why didn’t you go into teaching after college?
I think when I got out of school, I was not in the place where I thought I could teach anybody anything. I was also—I hate to say this about myself—a little immature. That’s partially why the title is what it is.

Your first class was filled with 26 tenth-graders. Do you keep in touch with your former students?
Alex was here this weekend; he came to visit me. I’m on email with a lot of them. Right now, a couple of the kids are having girl problems [laughs]. One of the things that really bothered me about only being there one year was that I ingratiated myself into these kids’ lives and then I was gone. I always felt bad about that. So I can’t help but keep in touch with them. I was there in June for their graduation.

Have they started college?
Only two of all the kids I was involved with—because I had another bunch of kids who were an unofficial advisory—aren’t going on to college or serious vocational training. I’m working on those two.

So your students were too young to watch Who’s the Boss.
They were born two years after the show was off the air! Later in the year, the show was playing on the Hallmark Channel, so the kids started to see me. I’d get comments like, “Jeez, Mr. Danza, you didn’t used to walk like that! [Laughs]

What’s harder, acting or teaching?
Teaching. [Pauses] Did I say it fast enough? Acting is not easy, but the responsibility of teaching, you can’t discount that. You’re responsible for 150 kids, but not only that, you’re responsible for their futures. [Pauses] I just think that’s such an unbelievable weight. I try to impress upon the kids that you only get one life, and you have to make the most of it.

Is it true you woke up at 4:20 each morning that year?
I started giving up on the 20. I thought I’d just get up at 4 and stop the baloney. I had it worked out so that if I woke up then, I could do a certain amount of exercising and get to school on time. I’m a physical fitness guy. I had a stationary bike, so I rode every morning and did my pushups.

You took your students to see West Side Story.
Yes I did! They had some knowledge of Romeo and Juliet, so they had a reference point. We talked afterwards about how they could relate it to their lives. You should have seen how it morphed into something about civics and your place in the neighborhood.

This piece is being published on the first day of school for NYC public schools. What advice would you give to first year teachers?
Breathe, Thanksgiving’s coming. [Laughs] But I’d rather give the kids advice. Know that being a good student and having a good time in high school is not mutually exclusive. Which means you can do both. Number two, get off to a good start. Much like a baseball player who starts the season in a slump, it’s very hard to pull your grades up as the year goes on. Number three, make sure that you understand that it is your job to get an education and to make the most of what your teachers are trying to give you.

You said on Twitter, “For the record, I will not be running for mayor.” How did this rumor start?
I was at a red carpet for Joseph Levitt’s movie Premium Rush. I’m in a movie with him that’s coming out next year. A journalist asked me if I ever thought of running for mayor. I think I said, “I don’t think I can stand the scrutiny and nobody’s asking me, but sure, why not.” This is a horrible thing, but the shooting at the Empire State Building happened to knock it off the news cycle. They were doing it every hour on the hour on both Fox and CNN. They were having a panel discussion about me being mayor! [Laughs] I loved it! I love New York.

What are your future plans?
I’m working on a sitcom for ABC and a musical for Broadway, Honeymoon in Vegas. I have a couple of things I’m trying to write, cause now I’m a writer.

To see episodes of Teach: Tony Danza, visit www.aetv.com/teach-tony-danza