Book cover, "The Shadow," by Martin Grams, Jr.

I like the covers of the books referred to in the previous two posts:  the book about Kay Kyser, brought out recently by BearManor Media, and the cover of Ricky Riccardi's new book about Louis Armstrong.  I also like the cover, to the left, very much: it's the cover of Martin Grams, Jr.'s latest book (his radio-related and television-related books have been referred to in previous posts).  The book (which I recently got, but have not yet read) is The Shadow:  The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954.

Here is the amazon.com link for the book: 

http://www.amazon.com/SHADOW-History-Mystery-Radio-Program/dp/0982531117/

New York Times interview with Ricky Riccardi

An interview with Ricky Riccardi, author of What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years (published last week by Pantheon, and the subject of a recent post, below), appeared in Sunday's New York Times. (The piece was posted on the newspaper's website a couple of days before.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/nyregion/ricky-riccardi-satchmo-biographer-to-read-in-howell-nj.html

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307378446?tag=rickricc-20&camp

New Kay Kyser biography

My publisher, BearManor Media, recently brought out a biography of bandleader Kay Kyser. The book, Thinking of You--The Story of Kay Kyser, is by the late Raymond D. Hair, and by Jürgen Wölfer. 

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-You-Story-Kay-Kyser/dp/1593936362/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308293639&sr=1-1

I'll have a bit more to say about the book in the near future, in a follow-up post.

"What a Wonderful World," by Ricky Riccardi

I’ve written previously, here, about Ricky Riccardi, who is the Project Archivist at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, and who writes a Louis Armstrong-related blog, titled "The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong."

(http://www.dippermouth.blogspot.com/)

Riccardi’s book about Armstrong, What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years, is about to be published. Originally scheduled to be brought out last year, it is being released by Pantheon Books on June 21^st.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307378446?tag=rickricc-20&camp

Terry Teachout, author of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, says this, of Riccardi’s book:  “The story of Louis Armstrong’s later years is the great untold tale of postwar jazz. Now Ricky Riccardi has told it to perfection. What a Wonderful World is a unique and indispensable landmark in Armstrong scholarship, a weathervane that will point the way to all future writings on his life and work.” 

Here is one of my previous posts about Riccardi, and Louis Armstrong:  

http://andrewleefielding.blogspot.com/2009/12/louis-armstrong-1950.html

Scott Pelley, and "The CBS Evening News"

I’m a longtime CBS News-watcher, and enjoyed Katie Couric’s tenure as anchor of The CBS Evening News.  Yet I’m also quite pleased that with Couric’s departure, Scott Pelley has taken her place.

Pelley is a fine reporter and anchor, and I very much enjoyed his debut broadcast, on Monday.  He is straightforward, serious, and likeable.

Here are two examples of Pelley’s excellent reporting; both reports were featured on 60 Minutes. 

The first piece, from May 1, 2011, is an interview with another terrific reporter, Lara Logan—who describes, very courageously, how she was brutally sexually assaulted and beaten by a mob in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, following the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7364550n&tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.7

The second report is a superb piece about children experiencing homelessness in America. It aired on March 6, 2011.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358670n&tag=related;photovideo