This week on The Speaking of Writers Podcast we remember a few of the authors that we lost this year.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark wrote forty suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series including The Cinderella Murder, All Dressed in White, The Sleeping Beauty Killer, Every Breath You Take, and You Don’t Own Me. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she coauthored five more suspense novels. More than one hundred million copies of her books are in print in the United States alone. Her books are international bestsellers. She died on January 31, 2020.

This is an interview from 2011.

This week on The Speaking of Writers Podcast we remember a few of the authors that we lost this year.

Jim Lehrer was the author of twenty-one novels, three nonfiction books, and four plays. His work in journalism began as a newspaper reporter in Texas. He then worked for more than forty years in public television. He co-founded “The PBS NewsHour,” which he anchored for 36 years, he also moderated 12 presidential debates. Jim Lehrer died on January 23, 2020.

This is an interview I did with Jim in 2010. We discussed his new novel "Super", a historical novel set on the Super Chief luxury train in 1956.

This week on The Speaking of Writers Podcast we remember a few of the authors that we lost this year.

Today it's The Quintessential New York journalist Pete Hamill.  Pete died on August 5, 2020. As the great columnist Mike Lupica said about Pete, "In the history of newspapers, there was never anyone whose use of the language was more elegant than his was. That voice could be full of anger, of course. He went at injustice, always, with a shout and even fury.But to the end, his country wasn’t just the borough of Brooklyn. It was the country of New York City, for which he was the poet laureate"

This is an interview I did with Pete back in 2011 for his book Tabloid City.

In Macho Time: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of Hector Camacho, Christian Giudice brings us from Camacho’s childhood in Puerto Rico (which his mother had to flee), to his coming of age in Spanish Harlem, to his training in various hardscrabble gyms throughout New York City, to his place atop the world stage of his chosen sport (which was, of course, the toughest sport), to the nightclub parking lot in San Juan where he was shot dead at the age of fifty in a drug deal gone bad.

Along the way, we come to know Camacho via his friends, family members, and fellow fighters—including Sugar Ray Leonard—through the firsthand interviews Giudice did with them. Perhaps most notable is the access Giudice had to Hector, Jr., who was born when his father was just sixteen; the two basically grew up together. The result is a full portrait of a complex man who fought his inner demons with as much fury as he fought his competitors in the ring.

Christian Giudice is the author of Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran, which was turned into a major motion picture starring Robert De Niro; Beloved Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Alexis Arguello; and A Fire Burns Within: The Miraculous Journey of Wilfredo Gomez. Born in Haddonfield, New Jersey, he graduated from Villanova University and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he teaches English at Harper Middle College High School.

It’s historical fiction at its finest—and deadliest—in bestselling author Joy Jordan-Lake’s Under a Gilded Moon (Lake Union Publishing) out this holiday season. Depicting the clash of classes and cultures around the famed Vanderbilt-owned  Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, Under a Gilded Moon highlights the aspirations that drive not only those with power and wealth, but also the people who live in the shadow of the privileged.

Joy is the author of eight books, including A Tangled Mercy, a #1 Amazon bestseller and also an Editors’ Choice recipient from the Historical Novel Society; Blue Hole Back Home, which won the Christy Award for First Novel; and the children’s book A Crazy-Much Love. Raised in the foothills of the Appalachians, she spent several summers in and around Asheville, North Carolina, where the Biltmore Estate is located. She continues to love the Blue Ridge Mountains and drags friends and family there with her whenever possible. Joy holds two master’s degrees and a PhD in English and has taught literature and writing at several universities. Now living outside Nashville, she and her husband have two daughters, a son, and a ferocious ten-pound rescue pup. To learn more about the author and her work, visit joyjordanlake.com.

The Corona Virus pandemic has turned vacation travel plans upside down for many this year. With events cancelled and concern over health risks associated with air, rail and cruise travel, many are opting for road trips as a vacation alternative. If you’re hitting the road, take a reliable companion. For more than a century National Geographic has been the first stop for savvy travelers in search of inspiration, in-depth knowledge and practical advice. The long-anticipated 2nd edition of National Geographic’s DRIVES OF A LIFETIME: 500 of the World’s Greatest Road Trips, is an invitation to get behind the wheel and experience some of the best motoring adventures around the globe. From legendary Highway 1 in California to Japan's famous Irohazaka Winding Road, DRIVES OF A LIFETIME spans the globe to reveal the best celebrated and lesser-known road trips on the planet.

Allyson Johnson is a senior editor for National Geographic books, where she publishes travel, photography, cookbooks, and illustrated reference titles, including the New York Times bestselling Blue Zones Kitchen by Dan Buettner; the top-selling 5,000 Ideas series by Joe Yogerst; NATJA award-winning 100 Dives of a Lifetime by Carrie Miller; best-selling What to Eat When by Drs. Michael Roizen and Michael Crupain; and Women: The National Geographic Image Collection. Previously she worked as a lifestyle editor at Every Day Rachael Ray magazine where she covered food, travel, and DIY. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and son.

In FIRST PRINCIPLES: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country (Harper),Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a revelatory new look at the founding fathers. Examining their educations—in particular, their devotion to the ancient Greek and Roman classics—Ricks demonstrates how that influence would shape their ideals and the new American nation. The book is already #4 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for The Washington Post from 2000 through 2008 and was on the staff of the Wall Street Journal for seventeen years before that. He reported on American military operations in Somalia, Haiti, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq. A member of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, he is also the author of several books, including The Generals, The Gamble, Churchill & Orwell, and the number-one New York Times bestseller Fiasco, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He wrote First Principleswhile a visiting fellow in history at Bowdoin College.

In 2019, Jeff Lindsay introduced readers to Riley Wolfe, a master thief that targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent. Fans were ready to cheer for the newest anti-hero on the scene—and Publishers Weekly agreed, saying in a starred review, “Fans of the Ocean’s Eleven film franchise will be eager for more.” After stealing a piece of the Crown Jewels of Iran, infiltrating a top-of-its-class security system and walking away without anyone knowing the diamond was gone until it was too late, Riley truly became the thief extraordinaire. And people are paying attention. Unfortunately for Riley, too close attention.

After the exhilarating subterfuge of Just Watch Me, Lindsay ups the stakes in its thrilling sequel, FOOL ME TWICE (Dutton). About to celebrate another successful crime—this time, a stolen Faberge egg—Riley’s betrayed by his getaway pilot. He wakes up prisoner of a top-dog international arms dealer who is also a top-notch art collector, and he has an impossible crime for Riley.

About Jeff Lindsay

Jeff Lindsay is the author of the Riley Wolfe novels, and the New York Times bestselling author of the Dexter novels, which debuted in 2004 with Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

Anyone who knows Jay Horwitz knows he loves stories, and has a wealth of them to share. As the beloved, longtime PR director for the New York Mets, he has witnessed and quietly shaped some of the most memorable moments in team history, becoming a trusted friend and mentor to generations of players, from Darryl Strawberry to Jacob deGrom. In this fascinating memoir, Horwitz tells the unlikely story of a childhood dream come true, offering an unparalleled insider's perspective on four dynamic and unpredictable decades of Mets baseball. Featuring reflections and anecdotes only Horwitz can tell, on subjects ranging from clubhouse hijinks, to the chaotic New York media scene, to navigating moments of greatness and defeat, Mr. Met is a remarkable behind-the-scenes ride that fans will not want to miss.

Jay Horwitz is Vice President of Alumni Relations and Club Historian for the New York Mets. He spent nearly four decades at the helm of the team's media relations. In 2019, he was the recipient of the annual William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for long and meritorious service, awarded by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Broadway, one of New York’s—and the world’s—most recognizable industries, is at a standstill. With its doors closed, fans across the globe are looking for a chance to reconnect with some of their favorite stars and shows. Luckily, New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel’s second book, SINGULAR SENSATION: The Triumph of Broadway (Avid Reader Press) offers an insider’s look at some of the business’s most influential and genre-defining acts. With over 150 interviews with Broadway’s most luminary names, SINGULAR SENSATION portrays the people, money, and power that created the blockbuster shows and aesthetic spectacle that has dominated not only a couple of acres of real estate in the heart of Manhattan but also the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.

Michael Riedel has been the theater columnist for the New York Post since 1998. New York magazine has called his column a “must-read” for the theater world. Michael began his radio career as regular on the Imus in the Morning show in 2011. In 2017 WOR, New York’s oldest and highest-rated station, asked him to cohost its morning show with well-known sportscaster Len Berman. The Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning show is the highest-rated morning radio program in the New York City area. Michael’s book Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway won the Marfield Prize for arts writing in 2015 and is widely considered to be the successor to William Goldman’s celebrated 1967 book about Broadway, The Season. A graduate of Columbia University, Michael lives in the West Village.