About the author
Dan Rottenberg has been chief editor of seven innovative publications, most recently Broad Street Review, an online arts and culture salon he created in 2005. As an advocate for free expression and alternative media, he successfully defended seven libel suits and received Temple University’s Free Speech Award in 1992. His twelve published books include Finding Our Fathers, which launched the modern Jewish genealogy movement in 1977, and Death of a Gunfighter, which was honored as the best Western history book of 2008. He served as a consultant in 1981 when Forbes magazine launched its annual “Forbes 400” list of wealthiest Americans. His syndicated film commentaries appeared in monthly city magazines around the U.S. from 1971 to 1983. Earlier, he was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, executive editor of Philadelphia Magazine, managing editor of Chicago Journalism Review, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and editor of a daily newspaper in Indiana.
To order copies:
Paperback edition (406 pages, $18)
Electronic edition (500 pages, $14)
From Frank Rizzo to Donald Trump…
From Abby Hoffman to Steve Bannon…
From Julie Andrews to Riccardo Muti…
Through 70 years of media turmoil, Dan Rottenberg carved a rewarding life as editor of seven groundbreaking publications, author of twelve books, press critic, business writer, film critic, arts critic, and dining critic. As a champion of free speech, he successfully defended seven libel suits and survived protest demonstrations and death threats. Along the way, he helped launch the alternative media movement, the modern Jewish genealogy movement, and the “Forbes 400” list of wealthiest Americans. He covered the Chicago Seven trial for the Wall Street Journal and chronicled billionaires for Town & Country Magazine. In The Education of a Journalist, he records his firsthand impressions of the notable people he encountered. He recalls how journalists practiced their craft during the last decades of the printing press. And he provides specific lessons to teach aspiring journalists how they might follow in his footsteps— even in a digital age.
Advance praise (plus a few pans)
“When I grow up, I want to be just like Dan Rottenberg: evergreen, ever skeptical, ever playful, ever willing, ever decent, ever transparent. There was never anything murky about Dan Rottenberg’s writing or his editorial positions. He said what he meant and he expected others to do the same, especially writers for the publications he has edited, managed, or owned during his long and seamlessly productive career in city journalism.”
— Clark DeLeon, former columnist, Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I am one of countless writers grateful to Dan for publishing commentaries on highly controversial, unsettling realities. The result is a fascinating retrospective of a committed writer and editor whose professional passion remains the defense of free speech and the importance of shared broad-ranging opinions. This memoir takes no prisoners— including its author himself.”
—SaraKay Smullens, therapist and author of Whoever Said Life is Fair? and Setting Your Self Free.
“Dan Rottenberg was the best young journalist I ever saw. He was awfully good as a grown-up journalist, too, a lifetime credit to his profession.”
—Alan Richman, former dining critic for GQ Magazine.
“I’ve written for four publications initiated by Dan Rottenberg, so I’ve always been aware that publishers and editors create markets. Dan’s creative influence has provided opportunities for a sizable crew of writers. We’ve all had writing careers that were a lot more satisfying and worthwhile because of his work.”
—Author and music critic Tom Purdom.
“One of our most constant critics, a decidedly downwardly mobile case named Dan Rottenberg. He began his career at the Wall Street Journal; he is ending it at something called the Welcomat.”
—Publisher D. Herbert Lipson, Philadelphia Magazine, 1988.
“If I wasn’t a public figure, I’d rather make him eat a bundle of those articles covered with ketchup or mustard or whatever he likes.”
—Former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo, 1982.