Michael Lupica (born on May 11, 1952 in Oneida, New York) is an American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.

Biography[link]

Lupica spent his childhood in Nashua, New Hampshire and graduated from Bishop Guertin High School and later Boston College. He first came to prominence as a sportswriter in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Lupica wrote "The Sporting Life" column at Esquire magazine for ten years beginning in the late 1980s, and currently writes a regular column for Travel + Leisure Golf. He has also written for Golf Digest, Parade, ESPN The Magazine, and Men’s Journal, and has received numerous awards including, in 2003, the Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation.^[1]

[edit] Daily News columnist

Lupica writes several sports columns during the week for the Daily News, as well as a signature Sunday column, "Shooting from the Lip," which features a traditional column followed by a series of short, acerbic observations from the week in sports. He recently began writing a regular political column entitled "Mondays with Mike," which is strongly liberal in orientation.

Favorite Lupica targets include the New York Yankees, (and will often state their massive payroll in most of his articles) James Dolan, Isiah Thomas, Notre Dame football, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, former President George W. Bush, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Lupica has also been a harsh critic of the new Yankee Stadium and was a vehement opponent of the proposed West Side Stadium. He has likewise been highly critical of the Atlantic Yards project and the attendant construction of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Author[link]

Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells and collaborated with screenwriter William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year and Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away From the Fans and How We Get It Back. Lupica also wrote The Summer of ’98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America, which detailed how the 1998 and the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run chase had allowed him to share a love for baseball with his son. Lupica has been listed a vocal critic of the steroid era.^{[citation needed]}

Lupica is also a novelist; his work includes mysteries involving fictional NYC television reporter Peter Finley. One of them, Dead Air, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Mystery and the 1987 Anthony Award in the same category; and was also adapted into a television movie called Money, Power, Murder.^[1][2] He has written a novel for younger audiences called Travel Team. Lupica’s Bump and Run and Wild Pitch were best sellers. 2003 saw a sequel to Bump and Run, entitled Red Zone.In April 2006, his second children's book, Heat, was published by Philomel. Heat is a fictional story based on the Danny Almonte scandal in the South Bronx Little League. In October 2006, Lupica's third children's novel, Miracle on 49th Street, was published. Summer Ball, a sequel to Travel Team, was released in 2007.

Television & radio work[link]

Since 1988 Lupica has been one of the rotating pundits on The Sports Reporters on ESPN.^[3] He also briefly hosted an unsuccessful television chat program, The Mike Lupica Show, on ESPN2, as well as a short-lived radio show on WFAN in New York City in the mid-1990s. He has been a recurring guest on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America, and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. Lupica has made frequent radio appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s.^[4] On May 9th, Lupica began a daily radio show on 1050 ESPN New York from 2PM-3PM. He works along side Don La Greca, and precedes The Michael Kay Show. ^[5]

Bibliography[link]

• Reggie! (1984)
• Dead Air (1986)
• Parcells: An Autobiography of the Biggest Giant of Them All (1987)
• Wait 'Till Next Year, (with William Goldman, 1988)
• Shooting From The Lip: Essays, Columns, Quips, and Gripes in the Grand Tradition of Dyspeptic Sports Writing (1988)
• Extra Credits (1990)
• Limited Partner (1990)
• Jump! (1995)
• Mad As Hell: How Sports Got Away From the Fans and How We Get It Back (1996)
• Summer of '98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America (1999)
• Bump and Run (2000)
• Full Court Press (2001)
• Wild Pitch (2002)
• Red Zone (2003)
• Too Far (2004)
• Travel Team (2004)
• Heat (2005)
• Miracle on 49th Street (2006)
• Hot Hand (2007)
• Two-Minute Drill (2007)
• Summer Ball (2007)
• Safe at Home (2008)
• The Big Field (2008)
• Yankees '98: Best Ever! (a compendium of Daily News coverage, 1999)
• Best American Sports Writing 2005 (2005)
• Fathers & Sons & Sports: An Anthology of Great American Sports Writing (2008)
• Million-Dollar Throw (2009)
• The Batboy (2010)

References[link]

Elmore Leonard
Born	(1925-10-11) October 11, 1925 (age 86) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Occupation	Author, screenwriter
Genres	Pulp fiction, Westerns, crime fiction
Influences Ernest Hemingway[1]
Influenced Quentin Tarantino[2]

Elmore John Leonard Jr. (born October 11, 1925), better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

Among his best-known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk and Rum Punch, which was filmed as Jackie Brown. Leonard's short stories include ones that became the films 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T, as well as the current TV series on FX, Justified.

Biography[link]

Leonard was born in New Orleans, but because his father worked as a site locator for General Motors, the family moved frequently for several years. In 1934, the family finally settled in Detroit. Leonard has made the Detroit area his home ever since.

In the 1930s, two major events occurred that would influence many of his works. Gangsters such as Bonnie and Clyde were making national headlines, as were the Detroit Tigers baseball team. From about 1931 until they were killed in May, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were on a rampage. The Tigers made it to the World Series in 1934 while winning it in 1935. Leonard developed lifelong fascinations with both sports and guns.

He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943, and immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the south Pacific (gaining the nickname 'Dutch', after pitcher Dutch Leonard ^[3]). Enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1946, he pursued writing more seriously, entering his work in short story contests and sending it off to magazines. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in English and Philosophy. A year before he graduated, he got a job as a copy writer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising agency, a position he kept for several years and wrote on the side.

Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy published the short story "Trail of the Apaches".^[4] During the 1950s and early 1960s, he continued writing westerns, publishing over 30 short stories. He wrote his first novel, The Bounty Hunters, in 1953 and followed this with four other novels. Two of his stories were turned into movies at this time: The Tall T and 3:10 to Yuma.

Leonard—or "Dutch," as he is sometimes called—got his first break in the fiction market during the 1950s, regularly publishing pulp western novels. He has since forayed into mystery, crime, and more topical genres, as well as screenwriting.

Leonard now lives with his family in Oakland County, Michigan.

Writing style[link]

Commended by critics for his gritty realism and strong dialogue, Leonard sometimes takes liberties with grammar in the interest of speeding along the story. In his essay "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing" he says: "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." He also hints: "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."^[5]

Elmore Leonard has been called "the Dickens of Detroit" because of his intimate portraits of people from that city; however, Leonard has said, "If I lived in Buffalo, I'd write about Buffalo." ^[6] His ear for dialogue has been praised by writers such as Saul Bellow, Martin Amis, and Stephen King. "Your prose makes Raymond Chandler look clumsy," Amis told Leonard at a Writers Guild event in Beverly Hills in 1998.^[7] Stephen King has called him "the great American writer."^[8]

Adaptations[link]

Many of Leonard's novels and short stories have been adapted into successful motion pictures or TV movies.

Film[link]

Aside from the short stories already noted, a number of Leonard's novels have been adapted as films, including Out of Sight in 1998, Get Shorty in 1995, and Rum Punch (as the 1997 film Jackie Brown). 52 Pick-Up was first adapted very loosely into the 1984 film The Ambassador, starring Robert Mitchum and two years later, under its original title, starring Roy Scheider. He has also written several screenplays based on his novels, plus original ones such as Joe Kidd.

The 1967 film Hombre starring Paul Newman was an adaptation of Leonard's novel of the same name.

His short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" and novels The Big Bounce and 52 Pick-Up have each been filmed twice.

A 2001 comedy film, Bandits, was originally meant to be an adaptation of Leonard's novel by that name, to which Bruce Willis owns the film rights. However, the producers brought in writer Harley Peyton to write a new script from scratch that bears little or no resemblance to Leonard's book.

Other novels filmed include:

• Mr. Majestyk (with Charles Bronson)
• Valdez Is Coming (with Burt Lancaster)
• 52 Pick-Up (with Roy Scheider)
• Stick (with Burt Reynolds)
• The Moonshine War (with Alan Alda)
• Last Stand at Saber River (with Tom Selleck)
• Gold Coast (with David Caruso)
• Glitz (with Jimmy Smits)
• Cat Chaser (with Peter Weller)
• Touch (with Christopher Walken)
• Pronto (with Peter Falk)
• Be Cool (with John Travolta)
• Killshot (Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke).

Freaky Deaky is scheduled to be filmed in 2011.

Television[link]

The short-lived 1998 TV series Maximum Bob was based on Leonard's novel of the same name. It aired on ABC for 7 episodes and starred Beau Bridges.

The TV series Karen Sisco (2003–04) starring Carla Gugino was based on the character from the film Out of Sight played by Jennifer Lopez.

The 2010 FX series Justified is based around the popular Leonard character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens from the novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and the short story "Fire in the Hole."

Leonard was referenced in the television show Leverage in episode 105 "The Bank Shot Job" when Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison and Beth Riesgraf as Parker introduced themselves to police officers as FBI agents Leonard and Elmore.

Leonard was referenced in the television show Homicide: Life on the Street in the first episode "Gone for Goode" when Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch tells a lying suspect that his false story had an "Elmore Leonard quality."^[9]

Works[link]

Novels[link]

Screenplays[link]

Stories[link]

Also wrote a short story in the anthology Murderers' Row edited by Otto Penzler (2001) (back story for Tishomingo Blues)

Audiobooks[link]

All but three of Elmore Leonard’s novels have been performed as audiobooks (the exceptions being Escape From Five Shadows, Hombre, and La Brava) Many Leonard works (including The Big Bounce, Be Cool, and The Tonto Woman) have been recorded more than once resulting in over 70 English-language audiobook versions of Elmore Leonard novels. Many of these were abridgements, the last of which was Pagan Babies (2000) read by Steve Buscemi. Certain narrators have dominated the Elmore Leonard oeuvre, notably Frank Muller (11 audiobooks) Grover Gardner aka Alexander Adams (7) George Guidall (5), Mark Hammer (5), and Joe Mantegna (5). Other notable Leonard narrators include Liev Schreiber, Neil Patrick Harris, Tom Wopat, Arliss Howard, Joe Morton, Taye Diggs, Brian Dennehy, Bruce Boxleitner, Tom Skeritt, Robert Forster, Dylan Baker, Paul Rudd, Keith Carradine, Ed Asner, Henry Rollins, and Barbara Rosenblatt, the only female narrator of an Elmore Leonard work (the story, When the Women Come Out to Dance).^[10]

Nonfiction[link]

• 10 Rules of Writing (2007)
• Foreword to Walter Mirisch's book I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History

Awards[link]

In 1992 Leonard received a Grand Master Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America ^[11]

Leonard was the recipient of the 2006 Louisiana Writer Award.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2008 Leonard received the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Award for outstanding achievement in American literature during the 13th Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference held at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, United States.

In May 2011, Leonard received the Peabody Award at the Waldorf Astoria for FX's "Justified."

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Elmore Leonard

• Official website
• Elmore Leonard at the Internet Movie Database
• Elmore Leonard at the Open Directory Project

Dennis Callahan (c. 1941 – February 8, 2012) was an American politician from Annapolis, Maryland. He had been a mayor of Annapolis and a director of the Recreation and Parks Department of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Anne Arundel County Executive in 2006. The general election winner, Republican John R. Leopold, appointed Callahan chief administrative officer of Anne Arundel County, a position he held at the time of his death.^[1]

Career in Parks and Recreation Department[link]

As director of the Recreation and Parks Department, he was at the center of two controversial park developments. One of the park developments involved the Smith Farm on the Broadneck Peninsula. The plan called for tearing down most of a horse farm and building ball fields over the land, leaving limited space for a community equestrian center.^[2] Local citizens organized against this proposal, and groups such as WHOA (We Hold Officials Accountable), SACReD (South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development), and the Anne Arundel Green Party literally stood in front of the bulldozers to stop the farm from being torn down. Eventually the farm was preserved and is now the Andy Smith Equestrian Center.

The other controversy entailed converting a substantial portion of wetlands on Franklin Point into ball fields and parking lots. The local community organized against the proposal, offering alternate sites for the ball fields. However, it was only after the Critical Area Commission ruled that plans for the park would have to be severely curtailed that Anne Arundel County backed out of the proposed development. Callahan stated that the new offer would "fundamentally change the character of the plan, substantially reduce the number of park activities available to the Shady Side community and the public, and make development of certain park features problematical or perhaps impossible."^[3] This ended 5 years of negotiations between county and state officials.

During Callahan's tenure as the Recreation and Parks Director, football commissioners throughout the County petitioned the County Executive to have him removed from his position. On September 15, 2002 a fight broke out in the parking lot between the two competing football teams, the Cape St. Claire Cougars and Riviera Beach Buccaneers. During the incident, assistant coach Mike T. Pivec, 52, allegedly hit Rory Fracasse Jr., 15, in the face. The head coaches of both teams were put on two game suspensions. Cape St. Claire's Michael Harris, appealed the decision to county recreation officials under Callahans supervision. The officials lifted the two game suspension, however "members of the football association said that Callahan, who is a friend of Harris, intervened in the appeals process."^[4] They later petitioned to have him removed from the position, but were unsuccessful.

Political Career[link]

This section requires expansion.

Callahan was a mayor of Annapolis, serving from 1985 to 1989. He was originally a Republican before serving as mayor. He was defeated in the 1989 mayoral primary. He ran again for mayor in 1993 as an Independent, placing second in the General Election. Callahan was again the Democratic nominee for mayor in 1997. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Anne Arundel County Executive in 1990.^{[5] [6]}

Tenure as CEO[link]

Callahan served as CEO of the P.O.I.N.T. Corp., which owned Chiro-Serve. After two years under his leadership, the P.O.I.N.T. Corp. and Chiro-Serve went under in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

Death[link]

Callahan suffered of a heart attack at his home on February 8, 2012, and died later that morning at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 70 years old.^[1]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Fuller, Nicole (February 8, 2012). "Former Annapolis Mayor Dennis Callahan dies at 70; Anne Arundel chief administrative officer suffers heart attack". The Baltimore Sun (Tribune Company). http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-ar-dennis-callahan-20120208,0,5548760.story. Retrieved February 9, 2012. 
2. ^ Childs Walker (March 4, 2004). "Ball Field Building at Farm Site Begins Despite Opposition". The Baltimore Sun. http://www.sacred-online.org/articles/Sun_030404.pdf. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
3. ^ Childs Walker (May 27, 2005). "County ends deal to build ball fields". The Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-05-27/news/0505270211_1_county-officials-ball-fields-area-commission. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
4. ^ Lynn Anderson (October 03, 2002). "Callahan plans to reorganize youth football". The Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-10-03/news/0210030450_1_youth-football-association-arundel-county-anne-arundel. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
5. ^ Nicole Fulle (February 9 2012). "Dennis M. Callahan, former Annapolis mayor, dies at 70". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dennis-m-callahan-former-annapolis-mayor-dies-at-70/2012/02/09/gIQAuabH2Q_story.html. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
6. ^ Associated Press (February 8, 2012). "Dennis Callahan, Former Mayor Of Annapolis Dies At Age 70". CBS. http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/dennis-callahan-former-mayor-of-annapolis-dies-at-age-70/. Retrieved 24 May 2012.