Still such annoyances were to be endured as part of the desperate gamble involved in my becoming a novelist. –Ralph Ellison in his introduction to The Invisible Man I sit there waiting for Ralph Ellison to take the microphone. What will he be like, I wonder. Among writers Ellison is…

I walk into the small garage on Route 30, an hour’s drive south of Chicago. It’s quiet here in Chicago Heights. Many of the factories and steel mills have shut down. It’s hard times. There is only one man at work in the garage. He also pumps the gas. I’m…

Jottings in an outsider’s political notebook: 1. H. Ross Perot strikes me as a perfect little fascist dictator. I sense about him nothing more than a haughty, autocratic, overbearing know-it-all. Our flirtation with him as a presidential candidate mirrors our desperation. A dozen years of Republican rule have made us…

The vacant expression in Joe Stedino’s eyes shocks me. I expect him to look more menacing, more unfeeling, like a Mafia soldier from a Mario Puzo novel. But instead Stedino seems vulnerableÏperhaps a little lost. For years he has suffered from a panic disorder. In order to raise the courage…

I’ve always been curious about talented novelists. What personality traits does the job require? Certainly, there’s more to it than just the ability to put words on paper. Over the years, I’ve met quite a few of them. Some really good. Some ordinary. But the skill remains a mystery to…

Memo: To our Phoenix Suns From: Chairman Jerry I thought I would leave a copy of this note in each of your lockers. It will give you some insights into the business side of professional basketball. I want you to think about these things while awaiting your next season. As…

Time is running out. Unless attorney Steve Mitchell finds the woman, the murder charge against Dan Willoughby must be dropped. Without her testimony, there is no case. Yesenia Patino is her name. For months she has been on the run in Mexico since allegedly collaborating with Willoughby in the brutal…

To understand politics, you must first understand ambition and the thirst for power. Take the case of Rick Romley. He was an anonymous figure when he joined the County Attorney’s Office. His first supervisor was Michael Ryan, now a Superior Court judge. The two did not hit it off. Ryan…

On trial was Glen McGaughey, acclaimed by his peers in the Arizona dog-racing business as the most outstanding breeder in the state. McGaughey’s dogs won the most races. He made the most money. He was the best and the brightest of the cretinous lot that claims that greyhound racing is…

This is a truly memorable tale about Governor J. Fife Symington III and his dearest friend in government, the voluptuous Miss Annette Alvarez. It’s bizarre, loony, absurd-even silly. It’s also quite zany. Up to now, we’ve thought about Symington and Alvarez only in terms of romance. This latest tale adds…

You are now free to discuss your observations,” Mike Arra said. Arra is the prison official supervising the media members who witnessed the killing. Arra is a onetime television personality turned prison public relations man. He once worked for Channel 10 but went into prison work when it became obvious…

The message on my telephone recorder was from Wally Pritchard. This is your old pal, Wally,” the voice said. I’m back on the street again. But things aren’t going too good for me here in Chicago. I’m thinking about coming out to Phoenix to settle down. Give me a call.”…

The courtroom is hushed. Earl Morris swallows hard. He is playing to a small audience. Its numbers are few, but they are totally mesmerized. If Morris were a veteran actor, this tiny crowd of spectators might be discouraging. It might even tempt him to deliver his lines too swiftly. He…

Governor Symington goes to Washington! On Thursday of this week, J. Fife Symington III is scheduled to appear before a Congressional committee looking into the fall of Southwest Savings and Loan. If Symington, a Harvard man, were also a diarist, here is how he might describe the upcoming events: Dear…

I have touched the highest point of my greatness; I haste now to my setting. I shall fall Like a Bright exhalation in the evening, And no man see me more. Shakespeare, Henry VIII For great professional athletes, the last act is the most difficult to perform with grace. It…

When Howard Cosell stepped down from his 35-year career as a radio sportscaster recently, his departure was barely mentioned. This was strange. In his best years, Cosell’s name was on everyone’s lips. He was the undoubted star of Monday Night Football when that show was one of the hottest on…

The other day I came across a fascinating mystery novel. If I am right, this book is not only going to sell big, but it could make a difference in the current industrial war being waged against us by Japan. Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun serves two purposes. On one level,…

You’re Mike Tyson. Many boxing fans predicted you would be the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. You had talent, speed and power. You displayed great courage in the ring. For a time, you dazzled crowds the way the young Muhammad Ali did. You were undefeated and people said you…

The big crowd oozes slowly into Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium. It’s early morning, and in a few minutes Vice President Dan Quayle will speak. An appearance by Quayle on a politically active campus would spark dozens of protests. There are few dissidents at ASU. It is a student body…

I take nobody’s word these days. I don’t believe the Warren Commission. I also don’t believe the conspiracy theories of his being killed by the mob and Fidel Castro. I don’t even believe County Attorney Richard Romley when he says he has solved the murder of actor Bob Crane of…

“My wife is down at the stables, seeing to the horses. Call her there.” The crisp note of annoyance was obvious in the voice of John C. Pritzlaff, the former United States ambassador to Malta. Pritzlaff, now retired to his home and stables in Montecito, California, is the father-in-law of…

Here is a fascinating peek behind the scenes as the Resolution Trust Corporation’s $140 million civil suit against Governor J. Fife Symington III grinds slowly forward. When you look closely at the background of the cast of characters, the picture begins to clear. After a report was issued June 12,…