September 9, 2005
I was sitting in Mr. Wallace’s Civics class at Mucous High when the subject turned to something I was actually interested in: Dick Tracy. Mr. Wallace, who had a big tummy and a big walrus mustache and would ultimately flunk me thereby forcing me to take a correspondence course from Phoenix Union High School in Phoenix in order to even graduate, was pontificating on a comics page controversy regarding Chester Gould’s fantasy invention: the wristwatch phone. I remember sitting there wondering how long would it take before the real world caught up to the comics world of the Dick Tracy wristwatch phone. I think that was 1964.

Last night I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and several ads in a row came on for phones that not only have streaming video, but you can download movies and send video. It dawned on me that we are finally in full Dick Tracy mode. Now, I wonder if his oft trumpeted warning, “He who controls magnetism, will control the world!” will come true. Stay tuned.

We got our office copies of the October issue of True West on Wednesday and Banta, our printer, has taken our mag to the next level. For the first time in the magazine’s history we have a perfect bound issue (that’s where you have a spine that’s flat, like a book, in contrast to a saddle stitch, which is the stapled version which we had for, oh, 52 years!). Great job, very official looking with a strong quality feeling. Robert gave it the “plop factor” test, i.e. dropping it on a table top and he smiled, confirming its worthiness. The staff was jumping up and down, running around yelling, “It’s perfect bound! Look at the perfect bound!” Mike Melrose got in his Ford pickup and was driving up and down in front of the office holding the new issue out the window and yelling at the passing cars out on Cave Creek Road.

Not really.

After a two week tryout, Mark Boardman has been hired as our new features editor. He brings some solid historical and editorial experience to our team. Our managing editor Meghan Saar is very happy (she had been carrying the entire load for some time). Mark will be moving here from Indiana in the next several weeks.

I’ve got a bus speech this afternoon. A group of women legislators from around the country are being bused from the Ritz Carlton at 24th and Camelback out to some big art home in Carefree and I’m the entertainment on the bus ride out. Should be fun. Looking forward to it.

I hope you can keep a secret. I’ve got a new story I’m working on called “The Mexicali Stud.” It's sort of a cross between James Bond, The Man From Snowy River and Speedy Gonzales.

"Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead."
—Benjamin Franklin