A post about McGilloway, McMaster, and me
2) As a follow-up to Thomas E. Ricks' The Generals, I'm reading H.R. McMaster's Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam. McMaster, a career military man and a scholar, shows a nice reporter's eye for detail in this vignette of the rivalry between Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Curtis LeMay, in 1963:
"LeMay’s bushy eyebrows, sagging jowls, and jutting jaw advertised an irascible personality. Aware of Taylor’s aversion to tobacco smoke, he hung his ever-present long dark cigar out of the left side of his mouth and intentionally puffed the thick smoke in Taylor’s direction."3) Dana King has posted the second in his series of Bouchercon interviews, this one with me in my capacity as a moderator of panels. I've been moderating for five years now, and Dana's questions gave me the chance to think about interesting aspects of this most enjoyable pastime. I am especially pleased at his declaration that I am "among the Bouchercon moderators whose panels are worth attending even if you don’t think you have an interest in the topic." That's the highest compliment a moderator can receive. Thanks!
Dana's interview with those superb panel organizers Judy Bobalik and Jon Jordan appeared last week, and further interviews with authors, organizers, and readers, all talking about what goes into a successful crime-fiction convention, will appear weekly through December.
© Peter Rozovsky 2013
Labels: Bouchercon, Brian McGilloway, conventions, Dana King, H.R. McMaster, history, Jon Jordan, Judy Bobalik, military
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 2:18 PM
4 Comments:
Thank you, Peter, and thanks for participating. These interviews have been fun and enlightening for me, and I hope for anyone else who reads them them.
I always write to my panelists after the convention to find out what they thought, what we could have done better, and so on. One panelist, who I think has also moderated panels, offered the humorous observation that he always wants more time when he's on stage, less when he's off.
I'd say that points up the necessity of being brief, entertaining, and to the point.
One panelist this year read a short excerpt from each author's book as part of her author introductions. That sounds like a fine idea, except that it meant that she'd probably eaten up seven to ten minutes before any of the panelists got to talk. If any of the excerpts were necessary, I'd have incorporated them into questions.
For someone with nothing to say, you sure managed some nifty stuff--much better than the columnists you mention.
Aw, shucks, Kelly. Thanks, but we copy editors are just editorial support.
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