Here’s something you rarely see: a writer telling people not to read his book. But that’s what noted author Jeff Pearlman did this week.
Pearlman is a former Sports Illustrated writer (a very good one, I might add) and the author of 10 books that have appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. That includes his 2014 book, “Showtime,” about the Los Angeles Lakers that is the basis of the HBO series “Winning Time.” It also includes his 2016 book, “Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre.”
Favre is the Hall of Fame quarterback who spent most of his career with the Green Bay Packers. He also had controversies off the field, including sending lewd messages in 2008 to a woman named Jenn Sterger when she was a reporter covering the New York Jets.
Then this week, Mississippi Today’s Anna Wolfe reported that former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant helped Favre obtain state welfare funds to help build a new volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi — the school where Favre went and where his daughter played volleyball. Texts from 2017 between Favre and Mississippi nonprofit executive Nancy New seemed to suggest Favre knew he was getting money that might not be on the up and up. (Check out Wolfe’s story for all the details.)
Now back to Pearlman. Shortly after the story broke, Pearlman tweeted this:
On the day of extended Favre revelations, I wanna share something: I wrote a biography of the man that was largely glowing. Football heroics, overcoming obstacles, practical joker, etc. Yes, it included his grossness, addictions, treatment of women. But it was fairly positive
And, looking at it now, if I'm being brutally honest—I'd advise people not to read it. He's a bad guy. He doesn't deserve the icon treatment. He doesn't deserve acclaim. Image rehabilitation. Warm stories of grid glory. His treatment of @jennifersterger was ... inexcusable.
And now—taking money that was designated to help poor people in HIS STATE, and funneling it to build (checks notes) A (EXPLETIVE) VOLLEYBALL ARENA (!?!?!?) is so grotesque, so monstrous. I don't know how someone like that looks in the mirror. I just don't.
So, sincerely, don't buy the book, don't take it out from the library. Leave it. There are sooooo many better people worthy of your reading hours. Of your time. I prefer crumbs like Brett Favre shuffle off into the abyss, shamed by greed and selfishness.
Sure, the book is now several years old, probably doesn’t sell a bunch of copies anymore and all indications are Pearlman is doing just fine. But this is beyond commendable. Not only is Pearlman saying don’t buy or read the book, but he’s admitting his work might have helped Favre scrub his image, and such an admission is just not something authors typically do.
Journalist and podcaster Jemele Hill tweeted, “Not many writers would do this. Trust me.”
One more thing about Pearlman that I wanted to mention. Aside from his terrific work as a writer, he also hosts one of the more interesting podcasts out there called “Two Writers Slinging Yang,” in which Pearlman interviews writers about the craft of writing. The majority of his guests come from the world of sports, but not all of them. Because of Pearlman’s excellent questions that allow his guest to be the star of each episode, it makes for a superb podcast.
Oh, and to put a wrap on this story. Give Sterger — the woman whose life was turned upside down by Favre — credit for the tweet of the day.
She tweeted, “Oh.. NOWWWWW he gets in trouble for inappropriate texts.”
Happy 40th birthday, USA Today
For this item, I turn it over to Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.
USA Today published its first edition Sept. 15, 1982. For startups of that vintage, reaching 40 can be considered robust middle age. Remember Manhattan Inc. and Smart Money?
From early on, USA Today was influential for its generous use of color, a national weather map and story lengths that ranged from short to really short. A news summary with at least one brief item from each state endures. It was positioned as a traveler’s newspaper, widely available for free in hotels.
It took many years for USA Today to shed the image of being frothy and unserious even as it conducted strong investigations. It did not share in a Pulitzer win until 2018 for reporting on President Donald Trump’s border wall, overseen by current editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll, then at The Arizona Republic.
I have questioned how the print edition can stay profitable as reading habits pivot to mobile devices and business travel ebbs. Publisher Maribel Perez Wadsworth assured me in a May interview that the print version still makes money and will continue, along with digital, indefinitely.
The USA Today launch and the Gannett expansions of the last quarter of the 20th century bore the mark of flamboyant CEO Al Neuharth. He thought big and spent big, later on with the overambitious Newseum. Among the oft-repeated anecdotes about him: When asked how to pronounce Gannett, Neuharth would reply, “The emphasis is on the net.”
Isn’t it ironic
