Heads and Tales

Double Indemnity, the book by James Cain and the movie directed by Billy Wilder, defines the genre that we call noir. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jprof/message

Edward Bulwar-Lytton is one of the most reviled writers in English literature -- undeservedly so. Here we make the argument that he needs to be set free from this ignominy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jprof/message

Isaac Asimov was an extraordinarily prolific writer who covered many genres. This episode will tell you a little more about this extraordinary man. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jprof/message

Arthur Ashe faced many challenges on his way to being a championship tennis player, but one of his toughest challenges came when he took on writing a history of black athletes in America. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jprof/message

Jim Stovall is a retired journalism professor who, for most of the last two decades, has operated the JPROF.com website. The site was originally one of the most popular sites for journalism teachers and students. Today, it retains much of its original content, but it also serves as Jim's blog where he writes about journalists, writers, the writing process, and just about anything or anyone else that he finds interesting. This podcast is the audio version of some of these stories. You can subscribe to Jim's weekly newsletter at JPROF.com. His latest book is Heads and Tales: Stories of the Famous, the Infamous, and the Just Plain Interesting. You can find it on Amazon at the link in the previous sentence. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jprof/message

Heads and Tales blurbHeads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

 Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

 The twenty-year-old Churchill (he turned twenty-one while in Cuba) was a second lieutenant in the British Army, and he was going to Cuba as a military observer.He also was going as a journalist.Heads and Tales blurbHeads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

 The phrase "his/her place in history" gets tossed around a lot. It's used by journalists, politicians, and commentators as if it's a seat on the Number 12 bus, and you need to be in the right spot when it hits Picadilly Circus.Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public.David Reynolds

The phrase "his/her place in history" gets tossed around a lot. It's used by journalists, politicians, and commentators as if it's a seat on the Number 12 bus, and you need to be in the right spot when it hits Picadilly Circus.Heads and Tales blurbHeads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public.David Reynolds 

When Agatha Christie was living in London during World War II, she wasn't sure she was going to survive. The Blitz by the German air force had inflicted heavy damage on London's capital city, and thousands of people had died. Christie believed she might eventually be among them. +++When the book was published, Poirot was given a front-page obituary in the New York Times — the only obituary the Times has ever run of a literary character.***Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

Physically, he was massive: 6 feet 4 inches tall, he weighed more than 250 pounds. Gilbert Keith Chesterton had a shock of hair that on many days looked like it had exploded out of the right side of his head.His writing production almost defies belief: 4,000 essays, 80 books, several hundred poems, and numerous plays. Heads and Tales blurbHeads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

The great scientist and agronomist George Washington Carver developed some simply formulated rules for living that he presented to his students. They're worth passing on to you.Heads and Tales blurbHeads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

Carnegie has his name on a lot of things, to be sure–Carnegie Hall and Carnegie-Mellon University, to name a couple–but for most of the 20th century, America and a good part of the world paired the name Carnegie with the word "library."  Read more at JPROF.com. Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

Double Indemnity – the book by James Cain and the movie directed by Billy Wilder – defines, as well as anything, the elusive genré that we call noir.Noir is generally associated with violence, usually murder, and sex, with conflicting motives and motivations, and with tragically flawed characters whose lives are never the happily contented ones they seek. In general, all of these aspects are played out in an urban setting, and much of the action occurs at night. Corruption, official or unofficial, is as inevitable as the darkness that pervades the characters and their environs. Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public.

After being consigned by several generations to literary purgatory, Edward Bulwar-Lytton deserves to be free -- if not for his sake then for our own. He is a far more interesting man than simply being the author of the most famous first line in all of English literature:It was a dark and stormy night.Read more here.Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public. 

Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public.  

We remember Arthur Asheas a tennis star whose quickness and grace on the court masked a concentration and preparation that few athletes have matched. Ashe's tennis career was cut short by health problems, and his life ended tragically early by a medical accident.Ashe was many things besides a tennis champion. Among them, he was an author, a fact probably unbeknownst to most readers.Ashe wrote and co-authored a number of autobiographical volumes, inspirational books, and instructional books on tennis. His most interesting work, however, is hard to classify. It was a three-volume history of black athletes in America under the general title of A Hard Road to Glory.Heads and Talestext and drawings by Jim StovallIn his forward to this book, Ed Caudill says:"Jim Stovall writes in the introduction that he is “trying to caricature people.”  He succeeds, perhaps ironically in light of the fact that writers themselves are inevitably – sometimes tragically, sometimes commendably, usually unintentionally – caricaturing culture. This collection careens along the gamut from rich and famous to downtrodden and obscure.  Some of them, the readers will know. Others, I would take long odds, are unheard of among the perusers of this volume. There any number of lesser knowns whose names are fleeting but whose work is durable, whether in politics, letters, sciences, or elsewhere. Some are masters of other media, such radio or cinema or illustration."Jim Stovall is a former journalism professor who writes and draws obsessively and occasionally inflicts his work onto an unsuspecting and largely undeserving public.

Hi, I'm Jim Stovall -- writer, editor, reader, watercolorist, drawer, caricature maker, (I'm carefully avoiding the word "artist" here), woodworker, gardener, and journalism prof now happily retired.I've written several books, the latest of which is Heads and Tales: Caricatures and Stories of the Famous, the Infamous, and the Just Plain Interesting.That book contains a lot of my caricatures and short pieces about writers and writing and serves as the basis for this podcast. I hope that you'll consider taking a look sometime.