In a preview of a hugely entertaining feature in the Fall issue of Ojai Quarterly by Kit Stolz, (which will hit the streets August 28th), we talk about Franz Lidz has had a dream career in journalism, covering such characters as future president Donald Trump trying build a golf course in Scotland, and his conflicts with the colorful locals, reminiscent of the film "Local Hero." He spent 27 years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated during their glory years. He now writes for the Smithsonian Magazine, going deep with long-form narrative features on Neanderthals, the skull of Pliny the Elder and chronicling the swift pace of cultural and agricultural changes in the Lake District of England, where Beatrice Potter, Wordsworth and de Quincy created masterpieces. He broke important stories such as George Steinbrenner's slide into dementia, which was hugely controversial at the time.
Lidz' memoir, "Unstrung Heroes," was made into a major film directed by Diane Keaton. But Lidz said that the real story of his four eccentric uncles before it was "Terms of Endearment"-ized, was even more fascinating. One believed himself to be the world's greatest boxer, another believed himself to be the poet-laureate of Brooklyn Heights, another fought with the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War and several of them were institutionalized. Lidz' father, the youngest of the brood, was a successful scientist and inventor; among them the first transistorized portable radio.
Besides journalism, Lidz spent a few years as a front-office executive with the Detroit Pistons, and with his wife Maggie, ran a farm in Pennsylvania for decades.
We talk about the state of journalism, the importance of storytelling, and the tricky and unreliable nature of memory. We also talk about Lidz' and his wife's move to Ojai to be closer to his family and the joys of grandparenting. We do not talk about the Pelopponesian War, Argentinian street food or rowing crew at Harvard with the Winklevoss twins.
