EXCUSES, EXCUSES by Barney Rosenzweig

There are any number of reasons for the inordinate amount of time that has passed since my last communique from this Island paradise, but only one that matters: it is the book.

I know, I know, I wrote that Before and After Cagney & Lacey was “done,” but done … it turns out in the world of publishing … can be something of an oversimplification.

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers has laid the book out … “designed” it if you will. The photos look great … not always where I wanted them in terms of the book’s narrative … but (oops) I found I was looking at the book as a vertical … reading the document on a computer screen one page at a time. I mean, who in real life does that? The book … like most books … is a horizontal thing with two pages each side by side, which, when actually … and finally … a book, may be turned page by page. Simple, right? Trust me if you have been writing and proofing on your computer screen for years it is easy to make this mistake before realizing that the photos just might work fine where they were placed by the “designer” in the first place.

Having finally come to that realization, I began to bury myself with the challenge presented by my publisher … proofing the entire document for errors in spelling, punctuation, facts, hyphens, and typos. And, while doing that, I was charged with creating an index; finding and listing not just every proper noun, but every word, phrase, or term of art which, as the author I believe might be worthy of a reader being interested enough to rummage through that ever-growing index to locate where they might find the discussion of that word or subject within the pages of my book. Those words then need to be alphabetized and then listed by page number(s) as to where they reside in the book’s latest incarnation. Of course, as the author of all this, I think everything I have written is interesting, with the result being that damn index continues to grow.

It is a lot to do and, truth to tell, although Before and After Cagney & Lacey is most generally referred to as “my book,” there is no way this process would now be complete … or be nearly as well done … without the major contributions made by my best pal, lawyer, and (now more than ever) editor, Debra Weiss Goodstone and her technologically adroit (and most gracious and willing) daughter, Marissa. I cannot thank them enough.

(It may well be you will wind up thanking Debra as well since I have left it to her to whittle down the lengthy index as she … as an objective reader … sees fit.)

The book will be released September 30. Pre-sales have commenced (available directly from McFarland or on Amazon).

That is the good news. The bad is that there has been a paucity of television programs worthy of comment. I mean, c’mon, have you seen The Buroughs?

Never mind what the New York Times reviewer has written, I am here not only to contradict that rave, but as a cautionary warning against junk TV. I will not squander any more space on this series, save to inform you that it is on Netflix, boasts a decent cast, and has … way too kindly, I might add … been labeled the Stranger Things for seniors. They should live so long (but won’t).

Larry David’s homage to America’s 250^th anniversary, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, is on HBO and it is so uneven as to be unworthy of the capabilities of this talented writer/performer. It is a sorry waste of time, not unlike watching a documentary featuring a collection of nothing but the strikeouts of Babe Ruth.

The Tom Hanks documentary series, The American Experiment, is very good (surprise, surprise) and this Netflix presentation should not be conflated with the two previously mentioned entries. I found it informative and entertaining and was duly impressed with narrators such as Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Mike Pence, Kamala Harris, Ted Cruz, and Nancy Pelosi.