Pulitzer winner Tracy Kidder in 1993

The death in March 2026 of Pulitzer winner Tracy Kidder—a reporter The Associated Press credits with turning “everything from computer engineering to life in a nursing home into unexpected bestsellers”—sent me diving back into the archives for the time in 1993 that I was fortunate enough to sit down with him to discuss his then-new book, Old Friends, documenting his year spent visiting and observing the proceedings at a nursing home in western Massachusetts.

To hear him now is to celebrate journalism at its best.

Here’s that interview, digitized and newly available for the first time since its broadcast on WNUA-FM in Chicago on Oct. 17, 1993. (Recorded Oct. 15, 1993.)

Hear more of my conversations with thought leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Pandora or Spotify, via your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.

‘Podcasting has become this explosive medium’

… in which acclaimed broadcaster and podcast host John St. Augustine and I discuss the intersection of news, podcasting … and farmers’ market music.

Thanks, John, for the kind words about my modest efforts in all three arenas.

(Interview recorded March 29, 2026; published May 30, 2026.)

If you like this, check out more of my podcast guidance on Rivet’s website and elsewhere on this blog.

And hear more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Pandora or Spotify, via your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.

Who could resist an invitation to join a podcast called ‘Misfits Among Us’?

I certainly couldn’t. So when Joey Marcus said he wanted to talk, I said yes.

And then here’s what happened.

Comics letters page flashback: Justice League [of America] 96

News of the death of esteemed comics letterhack Guy H. Lillian sent me off to the web in search of letters pages to which we’d both contributed.

The Grand Comics Database didn’t turn up one, but it did point me to a series of Justice League of America issues around 1971, when we both were active …

… and where, in issue No. 96, I made a suggestion that CollectedEditions.com moderator Osgood Peabody generously observed in 2012 “turned out to be years ahead of his time in calling for the JLA to drop ‘of America.’”

As I noted then: “Why, their headquarters isn't even in America anymore—but 22,300 miles out in space!” …

… a comment that prompted editor Julius Schwartz (or maybe one of his ghost writers at the time) to observe, “Almost sounds like a case of ‘America! Love it—or leave it!’”

Was my letter overwritten? You bet—but please note that I was 16 at the time.

As I’ve observed in this space before, those comics letters pages were thick with smart, talented young people—many of whom grew up to be acclaimed comics and TV and movie and publishing pros.

And it’s still a thrill, all these years later, to see my name alongside theirs.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lillian.