What is this?
All Predictions Wrong is a two-for-one Substack.
During the NFL season, Tuesday Morning Quarterback appears each Tuesday. All year long there is an All Predictions Wrong, on some topic other than sports, each Friday. Topics include science, theology, movie plots holes, environmental regulation, cars and my hometown of Buffalo, NY.
Two newsletters for the price of one! I should do a late nite TV commercial.
I am an author of books and of journalism. I’ve published 13 books, with numbers 14 and 15 completed and coming soon. My books cross genres – public-policy reporting, literary fiction, sports, humor, faith. My agent has been telling me for years that choosing one genre and sticking to it would maximize my income. I have gone against this sound advice.
As a journalist I have longtime associations with The Atlantic and the Washington Monthly, and adore both. I’ve written extensively for the New Republic, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times; occasionally for other publications including Science and WIRED, and for Reuters. In 2017 I was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
This space will have a fair amount on religion, stated in calm terms. Our spiritual lives matter as much as our material lives, yet we don’t discuss this enough. FYI, I am a Christian agnostic -- that’s a real thing – who belongs to a joint Christian-Jewish congregation.
I was born in Buffalo, New York, to parents from Canada. I grew up in Kenmore, a pleasant town that adjoins Buffalo. Restless in youth, I lived in Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Montana, Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. I married a Foreign Service Officer. We lived in Pakistan and Belgium, traveling widely to other nations. We have three adult children, who live in Amsterdam, Chicago and Brooklyn.
Both my wife and I are products of public high schools, as are our children. I am a graduate of Colorado College, which I think of fondly. My favorite place in all the world is the dreamlike Chautauqua Institution near Lake Erie. My mother, who died when I was young, took me there as a child to hear lectures.
Sometimes I speak or teach at colleges, where I have never observed the woke-mob mania supposedly running amok on campus. To me America’s young people are the best-informed and most open-minded generation ever. I do observe many forms of mania running amok among politicized adults.
Why Subscribe?
You benefit through a new form of reading. As a self-employed writer without a university post or corporate affiliation — Substack does not accept advertising or sponsorships — I benefit by being able to set aside the time needed to make this a quality product.
Writing is work! As is research.
Though all my books have done very well in the court of public opinion, only one “went to royalty,” in publishing argot. Thus I will be grateful if you take out a paid subscription, and have priced All Predictions Wrong affordably.
My books
From most to least recent they are:
The Blue Age, 2021. Nonfiction about the role of the oceans in modern politics and economics.
It’s Better Than It Looks, 2018. Nonfiction about objective indicators for society.
The Game’s Not Over, 2015. A reform agenda for gridiron football.
The King of Sports, 2013. Nonfiction about football and society.
The Leading Indicators, 2010. Literary fiction.
Sonic Boom, 2009. Global economics.
The Progress Paradox, 2003. Nonfiction about subjective indicators for society.
The Here and Now, 2002. Literary fiction.
Tuesday Morning Quarterback, 2001. Humor and photographs (a gift book).
Beside Still Waters, 1998. Christian theology.
A Moment on the Earth, 1995. Nonfiction on environmental policy and concepts of nature.
Surgeon Koop, 1990. Political biography.
This Magic Moment, 1988. Literary fiction.
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