Big Brother database for phones and e-mails May 21, 2008
Pick up a copy of Fleming's classic spy thriller today, free with The Times. Navigation - link to other main sections from here. (Times Online)
A happy ending: University Press of Mississippi director to retire after 29 years May 21, 2008
" University Press' Conversations With ... series has gained worldwide acclaim. Among the authors profiled: Ernest Hemingway, Larry Brown, Flannery O'Conner and Richard Ford. And it has expanded into the world of show business figures (Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas and Orson Welles, to name a few) and other areas. "I have had directors at other presses say 'I wish I had thought of that one,' " she says without a hint of boasting. And Srinivasan has helped provide a publishing home for... (The Clarion-Ledger)
Oakley Hall, 87; his novels helped define Western literature May 17, 2008
Oakley Hall, an author and teacher whose novels set in California and environs helped define Western literature in the postmodern era and who also helped launch the literary careers of such prominent students as Michael Chabon, Richard Ford, and Amy Tan, has died. He was 87. (Boston Globe)
Oakley Hall, 87, novelist attuned to the old west May 17, 2008
For nearly 20 years, until his retirement in 1990, Hall directed the writing program at the University of California, Irvine, where his students included Richard Ford and Michael Chabon. In 1969 he helped found the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, in Nevada City, a summer writers' conference where his students included Amy Tan. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- World)
Hammer killer could be freed soon after judge revokes whole life ... May 17, 2008
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. A killer who bludgeoned a skin specialist to death with a hammer will be able to apply for parole next month after a judge overturned a decision that he should die in jail. (Times Online)
Appreciation: Oakley Hall, writers' champion May 17, 2008
Soon, Hall's UC Irvine graduates included such highly acclaimed authors as Richard Ford, Aimee Bender and Michael Chabon, giving California bragging rights to two top writing programs, including Stanford's. And with the co-founding of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Hall and his colleagues (including The Chronicle's David Perlman) created an idyll in the mountains, where aspiring poetry, fiction and screenwriters from the region took instruction and advice from big-name authors and agents... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Offences by girls are up by 25% as crimes by boys fall slightly May 16, 2008
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. The number of crimes carried out by girls has risen sharply as the emergence of a ladette culture linked to underage drinking is blamed for a surge in violence. (Times Online)
Human rights lawyers seek set jail term May 15, 2008
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is likely to be told that he will never be freed when he is given the minimum term he must serve for the murder of 13 women. (Times Online)
Writer Oakley Hall dies at age 87 May 15, 2008
Among the writers whose careers he helped to launch are Richard Ford and Michael Chabon. In a review of Mr. Hall's 2001 book, "Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings," Chronicle book critic David Kipen wrote, "Oakley Hall gives a master class every time he practices his craft.". (San Francisco Chronicle)
Oakley Hall, author of 'Warlock,' dies at 87 May 15, 2008
Among the writers who studied at Irvine and whose careers Mr. Hall helped to launch are Richard Ford and Michael Chabon. Founded writers' group. (San Francisco Chronicle)
It's a risky business May 2, 2008
" He says his friend Richard Ford is right when he says a writer stops and starts characters at will. Except that once a character exists "there is an inherent logic in their life that makes them at one level perennially available". That logic is an asset to Winton because he accepts that he writes about the same landscape and place. "The place comes first. If the place isn't interesting to me then I can't feel it. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Stars illuminate Celtics' Garden party Apr 22, 2008
Without mentioning Menino by name, the Harvard professor and minister warned that the BPL was in danger of becoming "a minor bureaucratic sinkhole.") The eight "Lights" celebrated at the swanky gala were authors Geraldine Brooks, Stephen Carter, Frances FitzGerald, Richard Ford, Tony Horwitz, P.J. O'Rourke, Gordon Wood, and the late David Halberstam. Others attending included novelist Tom Perrotta and New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, both presenters, Lewis's wife, Supreme Judicial Court... (Boston Globe)
IN MY LIBRARY: MICHAEL TIMMINS OF THE COWBOY JUNKIES Feb 24, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008 Last Update: 06:35 AM EST. February 24, 2008 -- It's lonely on the road, as countless rock musicians have complained - even if your brother and sister are in the band. (New York Post -- Opinions)
Rebirth of a dark genius Feb 17, 2008
I am now aware of the existence of a fraternity including Nick Hornby, Kate Atkinson, David Hare, Raymond Carver, Kurt Vonnegut, Joan Didion and Richard Ford ... One of his best stories, 'Liars in Love' (selected by Richard Ford in the New Granta Book of the American Short Story), recounts a series of perfunctory encounters of a timid Fulbright scholar in search of sex in seedy, postwar London, and an East End family living off their prostitute daughters. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Love, the essence of human behaviour Feb 11, 2008
Short-form masters such as Carver, Nabokov, Richard Ford, Trevor and Munro can track the arc of the entire event. Love moves through people's lives like a hit-and-run driver, and the best writers are equipped with photo radar. (Toronto Star)
Spy agencies to have veto over phone taps Feb 7, 2008
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. The intelligence services and the police will have a veto on evidence from phone taps being used in courts, under plans to allow intercept material in criminal proceedings. (Times Online)
A path in the darkness Feb 2, 2008
The book, which explores a culture of impunity, rising narco-power and media manipulation, has drawn comparisons with Gabriel Garc;a M;rquez's News of a Kidnapping (1996), as well as praise from Salman Rushdie and Richard Ford. For the fiction writer Junot D;az, it "peels away sensational obfuscation to expose the lies, skulduggery and abuse of power in the aftermath of the proxy wars America is so good at. But it also speaks at a metaphorical level to a larger world. Frank is fearless; nothing... (Guardian Unlimited)
A romance that counts Jan 26, 2008
Confessing to a voracious appetite for romantic fiction, as well as more "literary" authors such as Zadie Smith and Richard Ford, she is happy to categorise her work while emphasising its potential for surprise. "At heart, it's a romantic comedy and I wouldn't like the fact that Grace has a few quirks to move it too far from [that] identity. That's what I like about writing and reading but I don't think that means a book can't make you think or a book can't speak to you; it doesn't have to be... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Find Timbaland at the library Jan 14, 2008
Mon Jan 14, 2008, 06:48 AM EST. Library closed for MLK Day. (Somerville Journal, MA)
Gordon Brown planning clampdown on cannabis Jan 12, 2008
Francis Elliott and Richard Ford. Cannabis is to be reclassified as a Class B drug after an official review this spring, The Times has learnt. (Times Online)
From student rag to literary riches Dec 30, 2007
Granta was about to celebrate its 100th edition, and I wanted some early copies - those classic ones with writing by Richard Ford, John Berger, Martin Amis and Angela Carter ... Richard Ford recently acknowledged its importance in bringing him and other contributors - including Raymond Carver and Tobias Wolff - an eager new readership. (Guardian Unlimited)
Linda Hall: A literary life well lived Dec 6, 2007
"In passing," Hardwick noted in her essay on Richard Ford, "it might be remarked that Ford is the first, if memory serves, to give full recognition to the totemic power in American life of the telephone and the message service". The importance of this aside is fully registered when one notices that Ford's acknowledgement of the telephone is something like Fitzgerald's acknowledgement of the automobile. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
CT Christmas CD salutes hometown hero Dec 4, 2007
"Nichelle Rollins from New London emailed and said she was interested in singing. I asked her to send me a demo. In the meantime I 'Googled' her as many singers have a website. A headline came up: 'Nichelle Rollins sings and speaks at the funeral of her high school sweetheart Richard Ford killed in Iraq in February.' I was floored. What are the chances that the singer auditioning for the song would be one who made the words come to real life? Lemay said Nichelle had no idea the song was to honor... (East Hartford Gazette, CT)
Christmas books past, present and future Nov 24, 2007
Top writers select their favourite seasonal reads. Saturday November 24, 2007. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Radio host Michael Krasny opens up in 'Off Mike' Nov 5, 2007
Krasny is unimpressed with Maya Angelou, who is full of herself, flaunts her honorary doctorate and "is not the great writer that many believe her to be." Mordecai Richler appeared for his interview "liquored up and reticent, not the wonderfully clever word magician and humorist he was in fiction"; and in contrast to his off-air congeniality, novelist Richard Ford exhibited a "rife, motiveless malignity." Krasny is most contemptuous of former SDS Weather Underground leader Bill Ayres, whom he... (San Francisco Chronicle)
High-wire performers Nov 3, 2007
Richard Ford revisits some of his favourites. Saturday November 3, 2007. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Festival a celebration of words Oct 1, 2007
Richard Ford, Ted Kooser and Susan Powers couldn't make it at all. And airline delays caused Bill Holm to miss two of his Saturday sessions that Mary and I hoped to attend. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Police attack Jack Straw over irresponsible vow on self-defence Sep 28, 2007
Francis Elliott and Richard Ford. The leader of rank-and-file police officers accused Jack Straw of irresponsibility last night over his proposed review of the law on self-defence. (Times Online)
Readers, writers to enjoy book festival in Deadwood Sep 28, 2007
We were disappointed by the cancellation of Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford from the festival, but look forward to presentations by Ivan Doig, the author of the 2007 One Book South Dakota selection, The Whistling Season. The list of other authors is long, diverse and promising. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Festival of Books: Authors, readers can mingle Sep 23, 2007
DeBoer fielded a series of calls early Monday evening after Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford backed out of the festival. Richard had a family emergency that forced him to cancel all travel plans for two weeks. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Volunteers needed for Festival of Books Sep 13, 2007
Over 60 writers, including Richard Ford, Joseph Marshall III, Ivan Doig, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Sonia Manzano and Ted Kooser, are scheduled to give presentations. The majority of volunteers are needed between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29. (Black Hills Pioneer, SD)
'Faulkner's World': A look, a book and a detailed read Sep 11, 2007
The entire program was in French, but there was no language barrier to heartfelt tributes from the likes of Richard Ford and Carlos Fuentes and the sense of pride I had in one of our own and one of our best. HIT THE BOOKS. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Great expectations for the writer from nowhere Sep 10, 2007
It was the writers he discovered there Hemingway, Bellow, Sontag, plus Raymond Carver, Richard Ford and Tobias Wolff rather than any British novelists (including Dickens, strangely), who have been the biggest influence on his career: What the Americans taught me is that less is more and that you should leave space for the reader. A self-confessed rugby nut one of his novels, Book of Fame, tells the story of the legendary 1905 All Blacks tour Jones can now look forward to a possible dream double... (Times Online)
Gigs: Stephen Cummings Sep 8, 2007
" Good God - rather than a mid-life crisis, he is having a mid-life transformation. "I've been having a midlife crisis for 20 years and now it's reached its zenith and I've gone into a state of grace," he chuckles. "I am a living Richard Ford novel. " Not The Sportswriter, but The Songwriter. "But I'm a nicer Frank Bascombe. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
For bibliophiles, a buzzworthy autumn Sep 7, 2007
"[Clarke's] being compared to Richard Ford," she says. "People are using big words: tour de force; an instant classic.". (Christian Science Monitor)
Changing of the literary guard - UM appoints creative writing director Sep 6, 2007
UM students have learned from literary notables such as Ian Frazier, Richard Ford, Amy Bloom and George Saunders. think is those workshops and readings are the things I feel most proud of, Gadbow said. (Missoulian, MT)
High school prank began era of computer virus Sep 1, 2007
Compared with the early threats, "the underlying technology is very similar (but) the things viruses can do once they get hold of the computer has changed dramatically," said Richard Ford, a computer science professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Later viruses spread through instant-messaging and file-sharing software, while others circulated faster than ever by exploiting flaws in Windows networking functions. (USA Today)
Check out the fall books preview Aug 27, 2007
The New Granta Book of the American Short Story (Granta), edited by Richard Ford; The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps: The Best Stories From the Pulps During Their Golden Age - the '20s, the '30s and the '40s (Vintage Original), edited by Otto Penzler; Andrea Barrett's novel, The Air We Breathe (Norton); and Steve Erickson's novel about Hollywood, Zeroville (Europa Editions). Stewart O'Nan's novel, Last Night at the Lobster (Viking); the anthology The Book of Other People (Penguin Original),... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Bestsellers list Aug 22, 2007
The Lay of the Land Richard Ford, Vintage, $14. 95, 9780679776673 Frank Bascombe returns, to the delight of booksellers and fans. (Scranton Times, PA)
Internet is becoming as lawless as the Wild West, report peers Aug 12, 2007
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. The internet has become a playground for criminals in which highly specialised gangs steal money from bank accounts, according to a Parliamentary report published today. (Times Online)
Fasten your seatbelt, sweetheart Aug 11, 2007
writes Richard Ford in his novel The Lay of the Land. Are they the only interior life left. (Globe and Mail)
Ministers knew migrant centre risks Aug 7, 2007
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent. Ministers were warned less than two weeks ago that an immigration centre from which 14 men are on the run was unsuitable for holding them. (Times Online)
New in paper: 'Last Town' is 'moving' saga Aug 2, 2007
The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford (Vintage, $14. 95, reprint). (USA Today -- Life)
Computer insecurity Jul 29, 2007
" SQL Slammer (2003): The fastest-spreading worm attacked and brought down major computer networks by targeting a Microsoft vulnerability. Netsky (2004): The virus and its variants mailed itself around the world using addresses on infected hard drives. Systems expert. Richard Ford is a computer sciences professor and researcher at Florida Tech. Chris Kridler, FLORIDA TODAY Computer viruses have grown up. As they mark their 25th birthday this year, they've moved beyond childish pranks. Now... (Florida Today)
Computer Viruses Are 25 Years Old Jul 18, 2007
In a commentary published online this week in Science, Spafford and computer scientist Richard Ford of the Florida Institute of Technology warn that the problem will widen in scope as cell phones and other household electronics become increasingly sophisticated and connected (think iPhone). Proof-of-concept viruses could in principle hop between cell phones via the Bluetooth wireless standard. (Scientific American)
The computer virus turns 25 Jul 14, 2007
It's been a rocky quarter-century, but according to Richard Ford and Eugene Spafford, two computer scientists writing in this week's issue of the journal Science, viruses can look forward to a long, fruitful life. The researchers say that in today's hyper-connected world, when everything's got a chip in it and is running software, stopping malware is basically an impossible task. (Salon)
Last but not least Jun 23, 2007
Michael Ondaatje and Richard Ford do, and so do Tim Winton and Geraldine Brooks, but Jonathan Franzen does not ... Richard Ford has dedicated every single one of his novels to his wife, Kristina. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Debut novel 'What You Have Left' an emotional journey Jun 14, 2007
Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Richard Ford describes Allison's novel as "worked up right out of the American grain and (it) speaks to me, direct and true.". This is the type of novel you read in one sitting, and then you call your loved ones to make sure they know you're thinking about them. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Reign Of Terror Jun 3, 2007
SIMMERING SUMMER READING / OLD-TIMERS, NEWCOMERS HAVE GOT SOMETHING FOR EVERY TASTE -- LAZY BEACH READS TO BITS OF BRAIN FOOD (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
From dancer to charmer Jun 2, 2007
Later he joined Richard Ford, the great, granitey, blue-eyed realist of American fiction, to discuss again the transcendence of literature ... TODAY: Souls in Motion Richard Ford with Ramona Koval. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Author's quest to plan a useful life May 31, 2007
Richard Ford here and now ... WITH terrible good timing, Richard Ford's latest book, The Lay of the Land, begins with a disgruntled student returning to his former college, jamming a gun against the head of a teacher and demanding, "Are you prepared to meet your maker?" ... Andrew O'Hagan and Richard Ford Prize-winning novelists talk about their work. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Greenwood to host state arts awards gala May 29, 2007
Richard Ford - Ford, a Jackson native, was chosen in the fiction category for his 2006 novel "The Lay of the Land." Ford, a former Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner award winner, now resides in East Boothbay, Maine ... Richard Ford and Jere Nash will not be attending the event due to scheduling conflicts. (Greenwood Commonwealth, MS)
Chocolate to terrorism in gathering of the literate May 26, 2007
At the Big Reading, now an annual fixture, the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelists for 2007 will be announced, then writers including Richard Ford, Lionel Shriver, Rachel Seiffert and Andrei Makine will read from their work. The evolutionary biologist - and scourge of the faithful around the world - Richard Dawkins will speak via satellite about his controversial bestseller, The God Delusion, and his hopes for the spread of atheism. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Compound to have literary flair May 23, 2007
"Eudora Welty was born there and went to school across the street. Also, (fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning author) Richard Ford grew up in that area.". The development is pieced together on six parcels Morris iates purchased on Congress Street and 10 parcels on West Street, said Joe Nassar, a Madison resident and vice president of Morris iates. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Self-recovery written short and stark (Hillel Italie) May 12, 2007
In her 20s, Miss Hempel was in two bad auto accidents; she later wrote in the story "The Harvest" that she "moved through days like a severed head that finishes a sentence." Her luck changed after she moved to New York and sought out the Columbia University writing workshop taught by Gordon Lish, a former editor at Esquire and Alfred A. Knopf known for mentoring such authors as Raymond Carver and Richard Ford. For Miss Hempel, it was if she were staggering up the steps of a church. (Washington Times)
HBO scores sportswriting trilogy May 4, 2007
HBO Films will turn a Pulitzer Prize-winning book trilogy by Richard Ford into "The Sportswriter," a six-hour miniseries to be directed by James Mangold. Mark Bomback will write all six hourlong episodes and use all three titles in the trilogy: "The Sportswriter," the Pulitzer-winning "Independence Day" and "The Lay of the Land.". (Variety)
Writers Honor a Special Muse Apr 27, 2007
The evening's artists included such legends as John Updike, Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates. The writers' reverence for Mr. Rea was evident in each word they spoke, each anecdote and each personal story they shared. (Litchfield County Times, CT)
- America's hottest young writers Apr 23, 2007
Where are the suburbs that held the self-doubting realtors of Richard Ford, or the squabbling New Jerseyites of Philip Roth. Instead, the focus of the new list falls neatly into the two camps to emerge from the crisis of July 2. (Guardian Unlimited)
Where old Florida lives on Apr 19, 2007
West-facing Captiva attracts late-afternoon visitors hoping to catch the moment when, as novelist Richard Ford has written, "the sun turns the sea to sequined fires." A dutiful attendant from the tony South Seas Plantation Resort and Yacht Harbor, still recovering more than two years after Hurricane Charley's onslaught, provides umbrellas and beach chairs for the resort's guests in a roped-off area. The beach is composed of finely crushed shells, unlike the more sandy composition on Sanibel. (Chicago Tribune)
Passionate program designed to provoke Apr 13, 2007
Other guests include the novelists Andrew O'Hagan, Richard Ford, Lionel Shriver, Andrei Makine and Rachel Seiffert; the non-fiction writers Eliot Weinberger, Andrew Bacevich and Daniel Mendelsohn; the historian Antony Beevor and the historian and travel writer William Dalrymple. The actor, director and writer Richard E. Grant will attend, and there will be film screenings, including the Sydney premiere of Richard Roxburgh's adaptation of Raimond Gaita's Romulus, My Father. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Short Stories Honored by Updike, Others Apr 12, 2007
The short story was young and on fire Wednesday, thanks to such masters as Ozick, John Updike, Ann Beattie, Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates ... There was Ozick's frigid, terrifying Holocaust tale, "The Shawl," and Tobias Wolff's earthy "That Room." Deborah Eisenberg's comic "Some Other, Better Otto" was followed by an excerpt from Richard Ford's lonely "Calling," which he confided put some fellow Mississippians to sleep when he read it to them in full. (Shoals TimesDaily)
The Wonder of The Alhambra Mar 28, 2007
The Spanish government declared it a national monument in 1870 after the huge interest taken in it by Washington Irving along with other romantic writers of the era, such as Richard Ford. Francisco de Asis de Icaza wrote. (Suite101.com)
Heaven's Gate tragedy remains the country's worst mass suicide Mar 26, 2007
Sheriff's homicide investigators later determined that Richard Ford, a former Heaven's Gate cult member, had received a videotape and letter from the cult members indicating that by the time he got the package, they would be dead. Ford, who lived in Beverly Hills at the time, returned to the Rancho Santa Fe home and was the first to discover the bodies of 21 women and 18 men. (North County Times)
Robert McCrum meets James Salter Mar 26, 2007
Penguin Modern Classics has just reissued The Hunters and Light Years, the latter with an introduction by Richard Ford that makes the object of its praise beam with pleasure. Salter, a shortish, careful, eightysomething, dressed in khakis, shirt and comfy jacket, the uniform of the postwar American intellectual, is at pains to seem a regular guy, a man of 'low cultural tastes' who 'didn't read a lot as a child. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
- 35 small works of literature by leading authors Mar 24, 2007
To cut a long story short. Ernest Hemingway once said his best work was a story he wrote in just six words: 'For sale: baby shoes, never worn. (Guardian Unlimited)
