Writer Archives - San Diego Magazine https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/tag/writer/ Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:38:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-SDM_favicon-32x32.png Writer Archives - San Diego Magazine https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/tag/writer/ 32 32 The Not-So-Lonely Hedonist https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/features/the-not-so-lonely-hedonist/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 03:00:00 +0000 http://staging.sdmag-courtavenuelatam.com/uncategorized/the-not-so-lonely-hedonist/ Formerly itinerant journalist Mike Sager runs an independent publishing house from his Bird Rock home

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Sager Hammock

Mike Sager at his Bird Rock home

Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler

“You should call this piece ‘The Not So Lonely Hedonist,’” says journalist, author, and independent book publisher Mike Sager as we look at the ocean from his home in Bird Rock. He’s referring to the title of one of his essay compilations, The Lonely Hedonist.

It’s filled with stories about other people, but the title is an apt description of Mike. If anyone else in the world tried to tell me how to title my piece, I’d have bristled. But one of the quirks of writers writing about writers (also why we typically avoid it) is that it becomes a collaborative process.

Collaboration is something the now-publisher knows well. Though if someone asked him, he’d say he’s been going it alone for years. He moved to La Jolla in 1997 from Washington D.C., where he began his storied journalism career in 1978 at The Washington Post.

“I was a rogue hire,” he says, downplaying his success, per usual. Sager was just the copy boy who freelanced on the side, but after 11 months, he broke a story on abuses in the Department of Agriculture and, instantly, famed editor Bob Woodward promoted him.

What followed is a long, still-active career writing for titles like Rolling Stone, Esquire, where he’s been a contributing editor for 20 years, and many others, including this magazine. At Rolling Stone, Sager was the rag’s contributing editor who wrote about drugs and getting paid actual American dollars to smoke crack with Rick James, among other anecdotes. But he also ghost-wrote for Hunter S. Thompson when the gonzo wordsmith was too inebriated to file copy on his own.

Sager’s since become one of history’s best chroniclers of people—often the world’s most interesting people. He has an uncanny ability to pick up on the quirky things they do, identifying the fascinating contradictions they inhabit that make them both relatable and also utterly foreign. To that point, it’s no wonder he’s especially drawn to writing about celebrities, sports, and various drug cultures.

Mike Sager Couch

Sager posing in his home office, shadowed by Marlon Brando

Ariana Drehsler

Sager’s pieces are so vivid, the characters so alive that it’s no surprise more than a dozen of his articles have been turned into films. Ever heard of Boogie Nights? That was thanks to Sager’s Rolling Stone piece “The Devil and John Holmes.”

So was Wonderland, starring Val Kilmer, as well as 2012’s The Marinovich Project, an ESPN documentary based on Sager’s 2010 Esquire piece on the former No. 1 NFL draft pick and the disastrous effects of the all-consuming, lifelong training regimen from a young age. There are also stories about “The Pope of Pot,” who ran New York’s first marijuana delivery service, and another dispatch from the underground world of Southern California’s hash scene.

Sager John Holmes Book Cover

Sager John Holmes Book Cover

These days, he also runs his own publishing house, The Sager Group, which is HQ’ed at his oceanfront home. Sager started the eponymous press in 2012 as a “multimedia content brand” geared towards “empowering those who create.” Sager knows better than anyone that a media career these days doesn’t exactly guarantee riches, even more so with print journalism.

And though he’s made out okay—he calls his La Jolla perch the “house that Hollywood built”—he also knows he’s been lucky, and he wants to pay it forward. Plus, he likes staying in the mix.

To do so, Sager finds who he considers the best, brightest, and most underexposed writers kicking out the most interesting stories. He works with them to develop and bring to completion books and e-books. He lends a hand with heavy edits and helps with product design, and thanks to Sager’s Hollywood connections, the press also helps authors turn their books into documentaries and feature films.

Mike Sager home

Mike Sager home

Ariana Drehsler

Since 2012, The Sager Group has published more than 80 books, including a Women in Journalism series, which Sager claims is the “world’s only three-volume textbook or anthology of great women writers.” A cursory Google search confirms that. Many of these books are being turned into movies.

Shaman and Labyrinth of the Wind have been optioned by TIME Studios, plus Bang Bang Productions in India. They’re working with fiction and long-form journalism publisher NeoText, whose parent company recently became part of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories Productions.

Sager Dante Book Cover

Sager Dante Book Cover

Currently, the dual production teams are creating a film, podcast, and documentary to accompany Deadliest Man Alive by Benji Feldheim, published earlier this year. It’s about Chicagoan John Keenan, a martial arts expert with a “Most Interesting Man in the World” sort of pedigree. He also ran occult and pornography shops, harbored a lively cocaine habit, and was rumored to be linked to the mob.

I joke to Sager that he could qualify as “the Most Interesting Man in the World.” A tour through his office and studio is a look into where he’s been, what he’s seen. Pictures of Sager with various celebrities line the walls next to his many books—some he wrote, the rest classic and obscure works, many penned by famous friends.

One photo shows Sager cautiously, with some distance, putting his arm around Paris Hilton. In another, he’s got fists up in a defensive boxing pose with “Freeway” Rick Ross, the crack kingpin of 1980s L.A. In yet another, he’s chatting with the second-to-last king of Nepal, King Birendra, who was later assassinated by his own son.

Sager Brando Book Cover

Sager Brando Book Cover

Life is much quieter and more consistent for Sager these days: he’s in a new relationship, he lives next door to his mom, and he spends most of his time at home, promoting the writers of The Sager Group. He’s got a few recent releases of his own. Hunting Marlon Brando, which is also available in audiobook, details Sager’s experiences across the globe trying to interview the iconic late actor (spoiler: he eventually succeeds—sort of).

A Boy and His Dog in Hell is an anthology of what Sager calls his “greatest hits.” Upcoming releases include My Father’s Con by octogenarian Pat Jordan, the great sportswriter for Sports Illustrated and The New York Times, as well as The Devil Took Her by New Zealand “off-kilter short story writer” Michael Botur.

While finishing this story, I asked Sager if there’s anything I missed, a fascinating anecdote we somehow overlooked. Over the next few minutes, I watch the text bubbles on my phone appear, then disappear, when a photo of him and a white-haired man appears. It’s Sager with Jonathan Goldsmith, of Dos Equis commercial fame.

Another text bubble, then: “One of these guys is the Most Interesting Man in the World.”

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Q&A with Joshuah Bearman https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/guides/qa-with-joshuah-bearman/ Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:50:00 +0000 http://staging.sdmag-courtavenuelatam.com/uncategorized/qa-with-joshuah-bearman/ Interview with the writer of Argo

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Q&A with Joshuah Bearman

Joshuah Bearman

The Argo writer’s piece on a drug-smuggling ring in Coronado ran in GQ’s July issue. George Clooney’s already optioned the movie rights, with plans to film on the island.

How did you find the Coronado High story?

A friend of mine told me about it. He’d seen old news reports, and thought it would make a great story. He was right!

Have you ever been to Coronado?

I hadn’t before I started researching. I knew about it, of course, mostly because of the Hotel [del Coronado]. But I loved learning about the atmosphere of the place, especially in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

How did you get the guys in the drug ring to talk to you?

Well, they’re all much older now, obviously. My parents’ age. Or older. They all did some time and returned to regular lives. They have different perspectives on what this time in their youth meant. And that determined how willing they were to talk to me. But usually people want to tell their story. Especially if they have a good one. And this was a really good one. If people were reluctant, I’d send copies of some of my other stories. Usually after reading those, people would see that I was going to take time with this story, and they’d open up.

What are your overall impressions of Coronado and San Diego?

They seem like the archetypal settings for the California lifestyle. Growing up in Los Angeles, I always associated that cultural phenomenon with my city. But Los Angeles is bigger, more diverse, and has Hollywood, and rock ‘n’ roll, and real grit, whereas San Diego is more of a beachside metropolis. The Beach Boys idea that drew people to California in the ’60s—that was more San Diego than Los Angeles.

You have a thing for intrigue, espionage, scandal (don’t we all?). What writers have influenced you?

I do have a thing for all those things. But mostly I have a thing for narrative. And unusual settings or characters. My favorite writer is probably Joan Didion. Has always been, before I became a writer and since. Professionally, I was inspired by people like David Grann, Lawrence Weschler, and Bill Finnegan. They’re all nonfiction writers, great reporters and storytellers.

According to Wikipedia, you were “one half of Team USA in Walleyball, a short film by Brent Hoff about a pickup game of volleyball at the U.S.–Mexico Border”?

That was a kind of performance art project by my friend Brent, who wanted to demonstrate the absurdity of border policy by playing a game of pickup volleyball over the fence. So we went down there, called over to the other side, and got a game going. It was just like any other game of beach volleyball—two-man teams, sand, water—except the net was comprised of those 30-foot metal pylons that make the border at the beach look like some kind of castle gate from Lord of the Rings. It’s not easy rallying over that thing. It’s all on video online.

Did you know your Argo story would have such an impact?

No, I didn’t know it would be a hit. I didn’t know it would be a movie! I thought it could be. I even thought: “This could be a great project for George Clooney.” But I had no idea that wistful notion would ever materialize.

Do you find the West Coast has a strong intellectual community?

Ever since Herman Mankiewicz wrote to Ben Hecht and told him to come West because “there are millions to be made and only idiots for competition,” a steady stream of East Coast intellectual writers have come to Hollywood. Los Angeles is the other destination for writers in the U.S., and there are a lot of great ones here, not to mention the city’s vibrant art scene, which gives NY a run for its money. I’ve been lucky to work with people who still see movies and television as not just commerce but art as well.

What other stories are you working on?

A memoir that is an expansion of a story I did on This American Life a few years ago. It’s about my mother, an alcoholic, and my brother, an aspiring rapper, and their life living together in a retirement community in South Florida.

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Local Bounty: January 28 https://staging.sandiegomagazine.com/food-drink/local-bounty-january-28/ Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:28:00 +0000 http://staging.sdmag-courtavenuelatam.com/uncategorized/local-bounty-january-28/ Paradise Valley Ranch Avocados

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I’m a huge fan of Denny and Gemma Giles of Paradise Valley Ranch. Their 23-acre farm in the back country of Valley Center grows some of the most beautiful citrus, including kalamansi, a tiny Filipino fruit with a sweet tart flavor that’s hard to find in San Diego, and wondrous avocados. (And, if you visit their stalls at the Little Italy Mercato, Pacific Beach farmers market, North Park market, and the San Diego Public Market, you’ll also find the magnificent woven African baskets they sell—the large ones are perfect for your farmers market shopping expeditions.)

This time of year, their stalls are filled with oranges and three varieties of avocados—Zutano, Bacon, and Hass. All are $2 apiece of $6 for a basket.

Local Bounty: January 28

Avocados

From left: Zutano, Bacon, and Hass avocados | Photos by Caron Golden

Zutano

Zutanos, a Mexican avocado, are found at the beginning of the avocado season—from September through early winter. They’re beautiful, with a shiny smooth yellow green skin and slight, elongated pear shape. Denny says these are considered the “low cal” avocado because they have the lowest oil content of avocado varieties. Typically, they’re grown as pollinators to attract bees for the more common Hass, but they are a treat to eat, with their creamy texture. Slice it in half lengthwise and stuff with a shrimp, farro, and tomato salad. Or turn it into a creamy soup topped with crispy pieces of bacon and a swirl of avocado oil.

Bacon

Bacons are a seasonal treat, coming in late fall and departing in early spring. They’ve got an oval shape with a smooth green skin (the commonality among these rarer varieties is this thin skin, which makes them difficult to send to market, unlike the Hass and its thick skin).  I love the sweetness you get in the Bacon’s flesh. Yes, you can turn it into guacamole, but I actually enjoy slicing it in half, sprinkling it with some garlic salt, and just dipping my spoon into for each luscious bite. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

Hass

You’re more than familiar with the Hass and its easy-to-peel, thick pebbly skin. It’s available here year round. If you see dark-skinned Hass avocados, check the give on the fruit; it’s probably ripe. Also—for any avocado—look for the nub of the stem to be there. It helps the fruit ripen more evenly. While guac is a given, how about trying an avocado, mango, and fresh corn salsa? Or blending it with yogurt to make a healthy dip for Super Bowl?

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