Stuart Goldman

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Stuart Goldman is a highly controversial journalist, author and screenwriter. A former critic for the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. Goldman later penned an acid-tinged column for the Los Angeles Reader which earned him the moniker, "the journalistic hitman." [1]

Goldman's curmudgonesque style is clearly influenced by muckrakers of the past such as H.L. Mencken, Lincoln Steffans and Upton Sinclair. Goldman's first foray into the world of gonzo journalism came after he read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, by Hunter Thompson. Goldman's work was also heavily influenced by the writing of Harvey Kurtzman, in particular Kurtzman's work in the early ten cent issues of Mad magazine. In addition to the literary element in those early issues of Mad, Goldman's world view was equally shaped by the artwork of Mad cartoonists, Bill Elder, Jack Davis, and Wally Wood.

Goldman's early career found him writing for left-wing papers and magazines. He was one of the original staffers for the L.A. Weekly. However, Goldman ultimately emerged as a conservative journalist whose pieces frequently appeared in The National Review and other right-wing journals. Over the years, Goldman's pieces have appeared in numerous mainstream magazines, including Los Angeles Magazine, Rolling Stone, Penthouse, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and California Lawyer Magazine. Additionally, Goldman's syndicated column appeared in over 56 newspapers throughout the U.S. and Europe.

For over three years Goldman contributed a weekly column to worldnetdaily.com [2].According to editor Joseph Farah Goldman's column generated more reader response than any other columnist on the popular conservative website.

In 1989, Goldman embarked upon a three year undercover investigation of the tabloid industry, both print and television. Using the pseudonym Wil Runyon (one of the many identities he has employed over the years), Goldman spent three years as a "mole" inside the tabloids, with the goal of exposing them as a "criminal organization." Goldman enlisted the help of former FBI agent Ted Gunderson, and threat-assessor, Gavin de Becker in writing his story. When he'd completed his investigation, Goldman wrote an article for Spy magazine. After a heated bidding war, Goldman sold the rights to his story to Phoenix Pictures, who attached Oliver Stone to direct the feature film.


Contents

[edit] Musical Career

Goldman was raised in a family of classical musicians. Goldman's father is noted composer/arranger[3], Maurice Goldman,[4],[5]. primarily recognized for his contribution to the world of Yiddish music. Goldman's mother, Ethel Goldman, was, at 18, the youngest flutist to play in the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a youth, Goldman studied piano, cello an trumpet. While in college, Goldman became enamored with the pedal steel guitar. Over the next 10 years, Goldman played and recorded with numerous artists, including Hoyt Axton, Steve Goodman, Doc Watson, Tanya Tucker, Phil Everly, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Jo-El Sonnier, Garth Hudson, Leon Russell, and guitarist Albert Lee.

Goldman toured the U.S. and Europe with former Kingston Trio memberJohn Stewart, and Cajun fiddler player, Doug Kershaw. Prior to quitting the music scene, Goldman played several concerts as a member of The Texas Jewboys, backup band for country-singer-cum-detective-writer, Kinky Friedman.


[edit] Current Work

Goldman’s current work combines his skills as an investigative journalist with his rekindled interest in Judaism -- in particular the world of Jewish Music.

The project was born after Goldman discovered that the entire musical collection of his father had disappeared after it was loaned to an alleged “charitable” organization. In the course of trying to locate his father’s music, Goldman discovered that the collections of a number of other well-known Jewish musical composers were also missing. Eight years later, what Goldman had thought would be a magazine article had become a book.

The Case Of The Missing Archives: How An Obsessed L.A. Journalist Rescued the Lost Collections Of The World’s Most Famous Composers Of Jewish Music: A Tale Of Greed, Hubris, and A Man Called The Angel Of Death, is nearing completion.Though some of the missing music has yet to be recovered, Goldman feels confident that with the publication of his work, that end will be accomplished.

Other writers in Goldman’s family who have focused on Jewish themes include Goldman’s cousin, Barbara Myerhoff [6](1935-1985). Myerhoff is the author of Number Our Days: Culture and Community Among Elderly Jews in an American Ghetto[7], which was based upon her study of the lives of the elderly Jewish community in Venice, California. The book, which was written in Goldman’s house, became an Academy Award Winning documentary film [8].

Goldman currently writes a regular column for the website My Turn To Rant. [9].

[edit] Works

[edit] Non fiction

  • Confessions Of A Poison Pen Artist, 1986
  • With Malice For All,1986
  • The Art Of Verbal Self-Defense, 1987
  • Tough Guys,1987
  • Letters To A Letter Junkie, 1988
  • Secrets Of The Supersnoopers, 1995
  • Snitch: Confessions Of A Tabloid Spy[10],1998

[edit] Children's Books

  • Hags: A Tale Of Teenage Witchcraft, 1995

[edit] Short Story Collections

  • Excitable Boy, 2002

[edit] Screenplays

  • The Bouncer, 1985
  • The Great Pretender, 1986
  • Spy Vs. Spies, 1994

[edit] Cartoons

  • The Adventures Of Phobia Man, 1980-1992
  • The Great Vomit Bus, 1985

[edit] Ghostwriter

  • The Franklin Conspiracy, 1990

[edit] Editor


[edit] External Links