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James Maguire: Journalist, Author, Raconteur

James Maguire: Journalist, Author, Raconteur

James Maguire, Journalist, Author, Raconteur

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Book

Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies

November 8, 2015 by James Maguire
  I really enjoyed Bridge of Spies. It's an intimate period drama, mining the tension and paranoia of early 1960s Cold War. Co-written by the Coen Brothers, it's a cracking good piece of storytelling and it punctuates the seriousness with plenty …
Read moreSpielberg’s Bridge of Spies

The 2005 Bee: Tension

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: The Final Day of the 2005 National Spelling Bee, Washington, D.C. It’s nine in the morning, and I’m standing on stage at the National Spelling Bee. At this hour the cavernous ballroom in the Grand Hyatt is almost empty, except for Jim Close, …
Read moreThe 2005 Bee: Tension

Who Makes it to Nationals?

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: the 2005 Nationals, Washington, D.C. – Who Are the Spellers? ...As parties go, these 273 spellers are likely the most divergent group of people gathered in the nation’s capital this week. Once again this year, the Bee is the definition of …
Read moreWho Makes it to Nationals?

Meet the speller: Marshall Winchester

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: Marshall Winchester Charlotte, North Carolina No one spells like Marshall Winchester. Tall, slender, bespectacled, with short-cropped black hair, Marshall takes hold of the microphone before issuing the letters. He stands as if ready to make …
Read moreMeet the speller: Marshall Winchester

Meet the speller: Aliya Deri

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: Aliya Deri San Francisco, California If the group of spellers that gathers every year for the National Bee is distinguished by a certain geek chic—the attractive nerdiness of the intellectually inclined—by comparison to many in this group, …
Read moreMeet the speller: Aliya Deri

Meet the speller: Samir Patel

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: Samir Patel Fort Worth, Texas Life isn’t pretty here at the Fort Worth regional spelling bee. That is, not if you’ve won the last two years, and you’re now competing for your third trip to Washington, as Samir Patel is. If that’s the case, …
Read moreMeet the speller: Samir Patel

Meet the speller: Kerry Close

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt: Kerry Close Spring Lake, New Jersey The first thing you notice when talking with Kerry Close is her intensity of presence. Hidden within her reserve, her native shyness, is a keen awareness, a sharp, sensitive intelligence. She’s twelve years …
Read moreMeet the speller: Kerry Close

Chapter One: Life at the Bee

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Chapter One excerpt: the 2004 National Spelling Bee, Washington, D.C. David Tidmarsh is breathing like a runaway pony. And no wonder: The slender fourteen-year-old stands onstage facing six judges and a crowded ballroom, with all eyes on him. In the …
Read moreChapter One: Life at the Bee

What’s the Spelling Bee All About?

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Prologue to American Bee: As I traveled around the country, talking with the many people I spoke with to report the story of the National Bee, I was often asked: “What made you want to write a book about the spelling bee?” The question was usually …
Read moreWhat’s the Spelling Bee All About?

Chapter Sixteen: The Generation Gap

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Sixteen: The Generation Gap (Since its debut in 1948, the Sullivan show had always reflected the many changes in American popular taste. But as the country moved toward the social turmoil of the late 1960s, the show's reflection …
Read moreChapter Sixteen: The Generation Gap

Chapter Fourteen: Beatlemania

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Fourteen: Beatlemania (The Beatles were virtually unknown in America when Sullivan booked them in the fall of 1963 for a February 1964 appearance. As Beatlemania spead across the Atlantic in those months, anticipation of their …
Read moreChapter Fourteen: Beatlemania

Chapter Eleven: Elvis

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Eleven: Elvis (Elvis' three appearances on the Sullivan show in the 1956-57 season were national events, with audiences hovering around 50 million viewers. Sullivan's uneasy grappling with the charismatic power of the …
Read moreChapter Eleven: Elvis

Chapter Six: Hollywood

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Six: Hollywood (This chapter details Sullivan's life as a Hollywood gossip columnist and filmmaker; he moved from New York to Hollywood in 1937.) Everything seemed bright that Saturday in September as Ed, Sylvia, and …
Read moreChapter Six: Hollywood

Chapter Five: Cafe Society

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Five: Cafe Society (In Depression-era Manhattan, Sullivan was an influential gossip columnist, chronicling the lives of the smart set. This chapter describes his experiences as a New York Daily News columnist.) The milieu …
Read moreChapter Five: Cafe Society

Chapter Four: Broadway

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Excerpt from: Chapter Four: Broadway (In 1931, Sullivan took a job as the gossip columnist for the New York Graphic, a notorious Manhattan scandal sheet. This chapter describes his debut on the job.) Ed’s column, Ed Sullivan Sees Broadway, debuted …
Read moreChapter Four: Broadway

Prologue: Sullivan’s Life

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
IMPRESARIO The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan Prologue On an overcast Sunday morning he sat in his robe and hurriedly typed his column. Next to the typewriter sat his usual breakfast – a lamb chop ordered from room service, an artificially sweetened …
Read morePrologue: Sullivan’s Life
american bee

American Bee

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds The Lives of Five Top Spellers As They Compete For Glory And FameBuy American Bee on AmazonCONGRATULATIONS!: Kerry Close, winner of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Kerry is one of the five …
Read moreAmerican Bee

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Blog

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October 14, 2018

The Meaning of Autumn

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The Red Tide in Florida: What Have We Done?

October 9, 2018

Humblebrag: I won an award for my feature writing

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My Tribe in the Music Store

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March for Our Lives in SF – Feelin’ It

April 1, 2018

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January 21, 2018

Nightfall 

December 2, 2017

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