Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Shut Down Harvard - Increase U.S. Competitiveness

It starts at Harvard and elite joints like it: The mindset of entitlement, faith in knowledge learned, and a default against failure.  I know.  I attended Harvard Law School.  Had I stayed I never would have been able to put together the number of new careers I have had to in order to make a good living in a global technology-driven economy.  Seemingly everything Harvard touches, from people to publications like THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, it might risk ruining.

Ivy League - So dumb about careers

"Ivy League Slaves in New York" reads the headline in THE NEW YORK OBSERVER.  The article, no newsflash, is about the usual schlep of these to glam media jobs in Manhattan.  What's unusual and puzzling is that they're making these sacrifices of high rent, low-status/paying jobs in a dying industry.  Most of Manhattan and other traditional media capitals are in a bunker mode, hoping the threat of new-media will pass.

Sweet Caroline - Every reason for President Obama to dump her

In the July 9th THE NEW REPUBLIC article "External Flame: Why Caroline Kennedy needs Obama," Michelle Cottle classifies Sweet Caroline as "an unqualified and twitty political dilettante."  But that's fairly irrelevant, isn't it, to getting and keeping power.  There are plenty of political lightweights such as Huffington who do well for themselves in the arena of influence.  What is relevant is Barack Obama's ability to create a whole new zeitgeist.  Clearly, the old Camelot model would only be a distraction.

Kirstie Alley at 245 Pounds - How Does This Happen?

Kirstie Alley is now at 245 pounds.  That might be a low estimate.  Clearly something is eating at her.  And if we figure out what that might be we might be able to dodge this bullet ourselves.

Thinking about Monster Carbon Footprint - When movers/shakers fly to Davos for World Economic Forum

The best publicity the World Economic Forum could get for itself and its members is to not host the annual conference in Davos in January 2009.  What a powerful symbol for reducing a monster carbon footprint as the new Administration takes office in the U.S. On the other hand, if the WEF doesn't use iChat or some digital means of getting together without consuming too many tons of airplane fuel, it's bound to attract very nasty publicity.  I can envision street theatre in Davos with protestors decked out as jet planes and making some 24/7 jet-exhaust noises.  Ah, all those jailed souls fighting to save planet earth.   What photo-ops. 

Amazon.com Book Reviews - Friends & Family?

Why do the lion's share of those customer book reviews on Amazon.com gush with praise?  There is little objective analysis of the book and even more rare is the outright pan.  I smell a seemingly stealth movement in which friends & family belly up to the review section and deposit pure gush.

Ghostwriters - Obama, Fiorina boasts not using us, Miller doesn't give us enough credit

Ghostwriters, just like marketers, are used plenty in America - but loathed.  Those who wish to heap praise on someone's book note that he - Barack Obama - or she - Carly Fiorina - didn't use a ghostwriter.  Those who want to shine with a bright light - like Steve Miller - don't acknowledge the key role a ghostwriter played in pulling a book together. Regarding the latter, in the July PORTFOLIO, Roger Lowenstein, in reviewing Miller's "The Turnaround Kid," notes, "One wonders why his excellent ghostwriter, Michael D'Antonio, isn't mentioned on the cover or the title page, only hidden in the acknowledgments." [Can reach Lowenstein at Rlowenstein@portfolio.com.]

Howell Raines in PORTFOLIO - King of old media on new media

Maybe it takes an outsider to see inside new media.  That's what I thought as I read former THE NEW YORK TIMES head Howell Raines deconstruct digital communications such as blogs in the July PORTFOLIO.  He was able to explain what was happening in this shift from print to digital in ways I hadn't either considered.  Yes, I have come to praise Raines, not bury him.

Your Story - Think Outside the Book

Daily I answer my phone and there is this little voice at the other end.  The person has a story to tell and needs a ghostwriter.  Now I cut right to the chase: Ghostwriting services are expensive.  Silence.  Usually this person with the great story isn't comfortable with or experienced in writing.  Given that disconnect between them and the traditional medium of the book, this potential storyteller doesn't think outside the book.

"Looks like my Gen will be working until the iPhone drops from gnarled liver-spotted hands," muses Nexter

Gen Nexter from Greenwich, Connecticut doesn't mind working.  What he does mind, he tells us off the record, is "Looks like my Gen will be working until the iPhone drops out of our gnarled liver-spotted hands."  He wants Obama and it looks like Jim Webb to shore up Social Security and protect pensions.