I think the story of DiMaggio was alluring precisely for its impossibility.
He's made a business out of being Joe DiMaggio. To remain Joe DiMaggio, you better not have too much known. He's right. The closer you get, the more explosively bad stuff you find.
At some point... Israel ground away, or gave away, her birthright of loyalty from the West.
There is not often much policy discussion with the Bushes. There isn't much introspection. Several generations of Bush men could pass by in which the great questions of humankind will go undiscussed.
I used to think that the image of the press in the 1940s - a bunch of guys in hats screaming on the courthouse steps - was all baloney. I used to say, 'I know reporters. We're not like that.' But we are.
We're still in the ditch, and the Gennifer Flowers story about Bill Clinton says it all. A tabloid fired several bullets into the air, and the rest of the herd began to stampede.
The first time I met Alex Rodriguez, he was in the fight of his life. He was the guy who was supposed to have everything - good looks, good health, good habits - all the talent in the world and most of the money.
We strove for more than 60 years to give Joe DiMaggio the hero's life. From his debut at Yankee Stadium in 1936 until his death in 1999, DiMaggio was, at every turn, one man we could look at who made us feel good.
People feel overloaded, that politics has become kind of a public utility: hot- and cold-running politics any time of the day or night.
This book-promotion stuff is like a political campaign. You work your butt off, and at the end of the day, you can't tell if it's made a damned bit of difference.
Don't be the schmuck on the other side of the table. Don't get an interview with the guy. Be in the room with him while he's being interviewed by someone else.
He was J. DiMaggio, and that was his business. He always was served and hosted - he was America's guest. And I really I don't think we would have the athletes that we have today and the social system in which they live without DiMaggio and what he did.
Few men try for best ever, and Ted Williams is one of those.
Even if you had the wherewithal to embarrass a reporter, there was no mechanism to do it. And in most cases, you might as well save your breath because the reporter had no shame anyway.
