Scott Martelle
journalist/author


Some of my
journalism

REVIEW:
Of Wael Ghonim's Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power: A Memoir
ARTICLE:
On Thanhha Lai and winning the National Book Award with her debut verse novel.
REVIEW:
Of John M. Barry's Roger Williams and The Creation of The American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
REVIEW:
On Philip Taubman's The Partnership, about Cold Warriors working on a nuke-free world.
ARTICLE:
On the folks behind Goodreads.
ARTICLE:
For Sierra magazine, on an unusual alliance that is helping end coal-fired power in the Pacific Northwest.
REVIEW:
Condoleezza Rice's No Higher Honor
OP-ED:
"Why We Quit Spending"
REVIEW:
William Kennedy's Chango's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes
REVIEW:
Richard White's Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America
PROFILE:
Noir mystery writer James Sallis
ARTICLE:
On a law that denies justice to aggrieved families
REVIEW:
Of James O'Shea's The Deal from Hell on the Zell takeover of Tribune
ANALYSIS:
On Obama nominee John E. Bryson
OP-ED:
"When fear trumps liberty"
REVIEW:
On Area 51, and secrets in the desert
REVIEW:
A book about lies, and their cultural corrosion
PROFILE:
Michael Shermer, the nation's "skeptic laureate"
OP-ED:
On Detroit, and its evaporating population
REVIEW:
I look at Stanley Meisler's look at the history of the Peace Corps
OP-ED
On nuclear energy, and asking the right questions
PROFILE:
Jonathan Lethem
REVIEW:
On Nicholas Delbanco's Lastingness
REVIEW:
Paul David Pope's The Deeds of My Fathers
REVIEW:
Simon Winchester's Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
PROFILE:
Author Bill Barich
REVIEW:
Of Anne Trubek's tours of dead authors' homes
PROFILE:
Mystery writer John Shannon
REVIEW:
On John Dower's Cultures of War
REVIEW:
On The Wave, about big waves and the people who love them
REVIEW:
On Sara Gruen's Ape House
ARTICLE:
On Gustavo Dudamel gone digital
ARTICLE:
There's more to Gilroy than garlic
ARTICLE:
On singer-songwriter Peter Case
REVIEW:
On Jon Clinch's Kings of the Earth
ARTICLE:
On anthropologist Jennifer Perry, and California's Channel Islands
ARTICLE:
A look at political polemics in hardcover
REVIEW:
Of Scott Turow's Innocent for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer
ARTICLE:
Interview piece with Scott Turow
Op-Ed piece
On Ludlow, and the West Virginia mine tragedy (for the LA Times)
ARTICLE:
On Exene Cervenka for Orange Coast
ARTICLE:
On Mark Twain's image problem
ARTICLE:
On Terry Teachout and Pops, his new bio of Louis Armstrong.
ARTICLE:
A look in the LA Times at the launch of Sarah Palin's memoir.
REVIEW:
On The Fourth Part of the World, a history of how America got it's name, in The Washington Post
ARTICLE:
On Barbara Demick's forthcoming Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
ARTICLE:
Short profile of critic Terry Teachout on his forthcoming bio of Louis Armstrong.
REVIEW:
Kazuo Ishiguro's short story collection, Nocturnes.
ARTICLE:
On Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code
ARTICLE:
"Harry Helling's Uncertain Voyage"
ARTICLE:
Profile of author Maile Meloy.
TRAVEL:
On AAA baseball in Fresno, the budget alternative to the bigs.
REVIEW:
Pat Conroy's South of Broad, not up to his full narrative power.
ARTICLE:
Fun piece on a yacht club without a yacht, a dock or, nowadays, a clubhouse.
BOOK REVIEW:
Of Nick Reding's Methland, exploring the devastating effects of meth on small-town America.
BOOK REVIEW:
Another version of the Reding review, this in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
TRAVEL:
A road trip up the California coast -- from brewpub to brewpub.
BOOK REVIEW:
Elizabeth Edwards' Resilience in the LA Times.
BOOK REVIEW:
Of J. Robert Lennon's Castle in the LA Times.
ARTICLE:
Short interview/profile of Reza Aslan, author of No God But God and How To Win A Cosmic War.
ARTICLE:
On Barry Rillera, former Righteous Brothers guitar player who shared a secret with The Beatles.
BOOK REVIEW:
Ifill and Asim books on Obama, race and politics.
ARTICLE:
On Detroit's Focus:HOPE
TRAVEL:
"It was cool outside. The rain had stopped, but the dampness seeped into our bones with the chill of death."
TRAVEL:
A piece on eco-friendly travel to San Diego.
TRAVEL:
Advancing the annual Hatch, N. Mex., chili festival.
ARTICLE:
An Hour Detroit piece on bipolar disorder and Heinz Prechter's suicide.
BOOK REVIEW:
Rick Wartzman's book on the burning of The Grapes of Wrath.
PROFILE:
Long-shot presidential contender Duncan Hunter.
TRAVEL:
On the semi-annual opening of the Trinity site - where the first atomic bomb was detonated

Where my work has appeared

Events

Please keep checking back for updates, and reach me through the Contact page with requests or ideas for other events.

April 2: Ann Arbor, 7 pm, Nicola's Books in the Westgate Shopping Center at Jackson and Maple in Ann Arbor. Phone: (734 ) 662-0600.

April 4, 7 p.m., Detroit, book launch at Beer & Politics event, Anchor Bar, West Fort and First Streets (cash bar).

April 5: Oak Park, 7 p.m., in conversation with ML Liebler at Bookbeat, 26010 Greenfield (between 10 Miles and 11 Mile roads).


PAST EVENTS


July 2011


July 20, 7:30 p.m. at The Booksmith in San Francisco, hosted by friend and fellow journalist-turned-author Frances Dinkelspiel, who says there will be wine. This is Booksmith's page on the evening.

July 31, 2 p.m., at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.

June 2011


June 26: 10 a.m., annual memorial gathering at the Ludlow Massacre site in Ludlow, Colorado.

May 2011


May 1: I'm on a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at 2 p.m. in Room 101 of Taper Hall. The panel is History: Democracy and Its Discontents, moderated by Celeste Fremon, and it will also include Barry Siegel and Thaddeus Russell. I'll also be floating around on Saturday, April 30, taking in panels and browsing bookstalls.

April 2011


April 6: I'm moderating a panel at the annual Literary Orange festival on the UC Irvine campus. The day begins with a breakfast at 8 a.m. My panel, "Nonfiction: Tales From the Real World," is at 2:30 p.m., with panelists Terry McDermott, Ashley Merryman and David Rensin. This is a ticketed festival, the proceeds helping out Orange county libraries.

October 2010


October 21: 2-4 p.m., moderating panel on the Detroit newspaper strike at the North American Labor History Conference at Wayne State University, Detroit.

October 22: 7 p.m., reading with M.L. Liebler and others marking the publication of Working Words, at Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University, Detroit, Mi. (in conjunction with the North American Labor History Conference).

May 2010


May 8: On a panel at the Southwest Labor Studies Association in Santa Cruz discussing the Ludlow Massacre with documentary maker Alex Johnston and Zeese Papanikolas, author of Unsung Hero, about the life and death of Louis Tikas, a strike leader kileld during the Colorado coalfield war. The panel is at 9 a.m.

April 2010


April 10: Literary Orange, member of the History: True Stories, True Lives panel with Catherine Irwin and Vicki L. Ruiz, moderated by Mary Menzel. On the UC Irvine campus.

April 24: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I'll be moderating the Biography: Literary Masters panel with authors Michael Scammell (on Arthur Koestler), Carol Sklenicka (on Raymond Carver) and Laura Trombley (on Mark Twain). The session is at 1:30 p.m.

July 2009


July 8: 7 p.m I'm going to be speaking and signing books at the Modern Times Bookstore as part of San Francisco's annual Laborfest -- which takes on added resonance marking the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco general strike. The book store is at 888 Valencia Street, fairly near Mission Dolores. From Modern Times' website:
BART
We are equidistant between the 16th Street & 24th Street BART stations.

From the 16th Street BART station
+ Walk up (west) on 16th St.
+ Turn left on Valencia St.

24th Street BART station
+ Walk up (west) on 24th St.
+ Turn right on Valencia St.

April 2009


April 25-26, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA. I'm on The Rest of the West panel at noon Sunday, the 26th, in Room 1178 of Franz Hall. The panel includes:
Steven J. Ross (moderator)
Mark Arax
Jim Newton
Deanne Stillman

This is my second year speaking at the Festival of Books, which is a wonderful weekend for lovers of books and reading -- 140,000 people, more than 400 authors. Just massive -- and a lot of exhausting fun. If you go, find me and say hello.

April 9-11, conference on the Ludlow Massacre at Colorado College, Colorado Springs.
Thursday April 9, 6:15 p.m.: Keynote Panel Discussion: What happened at Ludlow and Why?

Friday April 10:
10:00 a.m. Panel discussion: Writing About Ludlow
11:00 a.m. Breakout workshop sessions
1:30 p.m. Keynote Panel Discussion: Teaching Ludlow

Saturday April 11:
Trip to Ludlow: Depart Armstrong Hall at 8:30 AM with conference participants, tour the Ludlow battlefield and nearby sites. Visit the grave of Louis Tikas in Trinidad. We will make our final remarks at the site and return to Colorado Springs that afternoon.

March 2009


March 20-21, the 2009 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism in Boston. Moderating two panels in Sunday morning.
* Animating History: Bringing forgotten stories back to life, with Adam Hochschild, Jane Kamensky and Isabel Wilkerson.
* What’s the Biz?: Taking the gray out of business coverage, with Adam Davidson and Julia Flynn Siler.

April 2008


Saturday, April 26, I'm appearing on a panel at 2 p.m. on at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on "A History of Violence" in Haines Hall at the UCLA campus. The panel will be moderated by USC's Leo Braudy (Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity) and include ­David A. Bell (The First Total War), Mark Kurlansky (Salt: A World History and Nonviolence) and Andrew Nagorski (The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler and the Desparate Struggle for Moscow that Changed the Course of World War II). We'll all be signing books afterward so please stop by.

April 2008


Monday, April 21, 7 p.m., a talk at Colorado State University-Pueblo's Hassan School of Business Auditorium, part of a multi-day program marking the anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre.

October


Sunday, Oct. 7: 5 p.m. reading/​signing at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.


Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 18-20, the North American Labor History Conference at Wayne State University in Detroit. Not speaking, but will be in attendance and will be happy to speak with anyone interested in learning more about the book.

Thursday, Oct. 18, reading/​signing at 7 p.m. at The Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park, Michigan.

Friday, Oct. 19, reading as part of the WSU 17th Annual Bernard Firestone Labor Arts Tribute beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the College for Creative Studies, 301 Frederick Douglass (between John R & Brush Street) in The Cultural Center of Detroit.

September


Saturday, Sept. 15, 12:30 p.m., C-SPAN's BookTV airs a taped reading at the Tattered Cover in Denver in August. It will likely be replayed and the (hopefully) available on the web site.

Wednesday, Sept. 26, 4 p.m, live radio interview during Jon Wiener's show on KPFK, 90.7 FM, also listenable over the internet at www.KPFK.org.

August


Wednesday, Aug. 15: 6-8 p.m., Book Release Party, Bar 107, Fourth Street between Spring and Main, Los Angeles

Friday, Aug. 17: 6-9 p.m., Book Release Party, 5075 Tamarack Way, Irvine, California. Please email an RSVP for this one, as space is limited.

Monday, Aug. 20: 6-8 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 4300 North Freeway Road, Pueblo, Colorado

Tuesday, Aug. 21: 7:30 p.m., Mercury Cafe,
2199 California St., Denver, with poets David Mason and Eleanor Swanson. We'll all read from our Ludlow works and discuss responsibilities and freedoms that each approach allows/​requires.

Wednesday, Aug. 22: 7:30 p.m., Boulder Books, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder

Thursday, Aug. 23: 7:30 p.m., Tattered Cover, 1628 16th St., Denver

Friday, Aug. 24: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Trinidad Carnegie Library, Trinidad, Colorado

Saturday, Aug. 25: 10-11:30 a.m., followed by panel discussion by local history experts, Spanish Peaks Library, 323 Main St., Walsenburg, Colorado

Saturday, Aug. 25: 2-4 p.m., Borders, 1710 Briargate Blvd., Colorado Springs