"Tell Breslin I won't accept a collect call."

THE MEMOIRS OF JIM BELLOWS

Jim Bellows' The Last Editor: How I Saved The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the L.A. Times (from dullness and complacency), published by Andrews McMeel Universal, will be in bookstores in early 2002.

This is the story of the legendary editor who challenged America's three greatest newspaper powers - The New York Times, the Washington Post and the LA Times. He was a dragon-slayer who failed to slay any dragons, a David who failed to fell any Goliaths. But his unequal combat with the establishment press exerted a lasting influence on the field of journalism. Jim Bellows brought a new generation of writers to the mainstream press, creating a newsroom Camelot. And his influence can be seen in the brighter and bolder design of the rivals who survived. He challenged the three most successful newspapers in America which all became livelier and more graphically interesting as a result of his challenge.

The Last Editor deals with writers and journalists such as Joe Alsop, Maureen Dowd, Mary McGrory, Bob Novak, Gail Sheehy and Ben Stein, among others. The book also deals with publishers Otis Chandler, Katharine Graham, Jock Whitney, William Randolph Hearst III, Al Neuharth, Joe Allbritton...editors Ben Bradlee, Clay Felker, William Shawn...TV Guide, Entertainment Tonight, USA Today on TV, ABC News and Internet companies Excite and Prodigy.

The Last Editor provides an insider's view into every corner of the media that Jim Bellows' life has touched.

From the producers of
THE LIVING CENTURY