President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Life, goes an old saying, begins at 40. When I passed that milestone, which was easier than passing a kidney stone, I wondered: “Have I just wasted 39 years?” The answer: “Who the hell knows? But if life begins now, I am going to…
President Jerry Zezima in January published his third book Grandfather Knows Best: A Geezer’s Guide To Life, Immaturity, And Learning How To Change Diapers All Over Again. His previous books are Leave It to Boomer and The Empty Nest Chronicles. Jerry claims that “all of them are crimes against literature.” Grandfather Knows Best is based…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Robert Haught We walked in the footsteps of Ernie Pyle when we met in 2010 at Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied journalism at Indiana University. We imagined looking over the shoulder of Mark Twain as he penned the words to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and other classics when we…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist What’s your thang? Do you have something that you’re known for? What kind of writer are you? How do you explain what you do at parties? This comes up because decades after her death, columnist Hedda Hopper came back to life as actress Helen Mirren…
NSNC Scholarship 2016 By Mike Leonard Scholarship Chairman Having been an adjunct in journalism at Indiana University for nearly 30 years, I can say with authority that there are bright, committed and good college columnists out there, and they tend to flip an assignment on a dime. Deadline Wednesday? Knock it off Tuesday night. So…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President National Society of Newspaper nnelumnists At NSNC’s 40th Annual Conference, which will take place June 23-26 in Los Angeles, a panel of Hollywood insiders will give us their behind the scenes perspectives on how written words are transformed for the screen. The panel will be…
Lifetime Achievers This is the fourth in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists How much impact do columnists really have? Political/social satirist Art Hoppe answered that question after receiving the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Ernie Pyle…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Erma Bombeck was the mother of all humorists. Also the mother of three children, Erma had a legion of fans in women who identified with her funny take on what she called “the second-oldest profession.” But she didn’t appeal only to women. A lot…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC 2004-06 President Writing brings satisfaction, but are enough people reading our columns? A negative twist to Saturday Night Live’s Stuart Smalley plays in my head, “My ‘likes’ aren’t good enough. My blog posts aren’t smart enough and, doggone it, my Twitter feed is too low.” Recently,…
NSNC Scholarship 2016 Members planning to attend the June 23-26 conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists already are making plans on what to bring to the auction. Auction? Silent and live auctions have been a part of the annual get-together for some years. Proceeds benefit the NSNC Education Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. (The…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President National Society of Newspaper Columnists The NSNC Conference Committee is proud to add a prestigious line-up of speakers and panelists to the schedule for our upcoming Annual Conference in Los Angeles, June 23-26, 2016. Although the general theme for this year’s West Coast location is “Hooray…
NSNC Scholarship 2016 By Mike Leonard Scholarship Chairman National Society of Newspaper Columnists BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Menahem Pressler, the co-founder and pianist for the legendary Beaux Arts Trio, told me recently that this fabled career was launched almost by accident when, as a young man, he entered and won the Debussy International Piano Competition in…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Now that 2016 is here, and we have all recovered from New Year’s Eve, which means we are ready to repeat the conviviality in the hospitality suite at the NSNC conference in Los Angeles in June, I would like you to consider the year’s…
Lifetime Achievers This is the third in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists As endless gun violence and contemptible political statements dominate the news cycle, what William Raspberry told the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 1995…
Member Ship By Amanda Beam Membership Chair National Society of Newspaper Columnists Writers execute their craft alone mostly. It’s the nature of the beast. Our minds find it hard to work with the drumming and droning of others’ lives continuing around us. Thoughts squirrel about, running rabid until a yelling child or yelping dog forces…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Paul Lander LOS ANGELES — It’ll be great to have so many of you here for this year’s NSNC extravaganza. And, yeah, I’d say that to anyone coming to L.A. because it’s L.A. and we say stuff like that, even when we don’t mean it. We also say stuff like “Let’s…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist I own almost every book by and about Ernie Pyle. I also own a scrapbook of his World War II columns kept by a family during that time. I bought it at an NSNC Education Foundation auction more than a decade ago. My collection expanded…
