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BiographyBIOGRAPHY
I was born and raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and moved across the bridge in 1959. Education Brooklyn College (B.A.)-Highlight: four years on staff of Vanguard, the college newspaper, which earned me a group of lifelong friends and a Newspaper Guild Heyward Broun award. Also listed in "Who's Who Among Students In American Universities & Colleges." Columbia University (M.A.). Jobs PR departments at TV networks and two independent PR companies, specializing in the entertainment industry. Writing My first published story appeared in now-defunct Theatre Arts Magazine when I was 23. While doing PR, in the '60s and '70s, I free-lanced for several magazines and wrote sketches for two off-Broadway revues: "The Plot Against the Chase Manhattan Bank" and "Wet Paint." In 1974, my first novel, "The Villa of the Ferromonte," was published by Simon & Schuster. The following year, Signet published "Jack Nicholson: The Search For a Superstar." In 1981 I left the PR business and have been writing stories on show business, travel and lifestyles, along with satirical essays, for: Penthouse, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Rolling Stone, Harper's Bazaar, US, TV Guide, AARP Magazine, Travel & Leisure, New Choices, Newsday, Daily News, Chicago Tribune and the L.A. Times. My second novel, "Temptation," was published by Bantam in 1988. In 1997, my story, "Do You Think Young—or Old?" appeared in Reader's Digest Book: "Are You Old Enough To Read This Book? Reflections on Midlife." Other contributors included Arthur Miller, John Updike, Dan Wakefield, Susan Cheever, Willie Morris and Elie Wiesel (I never hear from them). In 2000, backinprint.com republished "The Villa of the Ferromonte," as "Norman's Present." I have also written three un-produced screenplays. Family My wife, the former Barbara Frances Smith, and I have a daughter and son and four grandchildren. We share our home with Murray, a 16-year-old Siamese cat. |
