ABOUT THIS BOOK

Do you love Philadelphia? Do you love good writing? Well, this is the book for you. It's about the people of Philadelphia--the good, the fine, and the imperfect. Yes, the sports heroes are here--Mike Schmidt, Julius ("Dr. J.") Erving. And the politicians--Ed Rendell, John Street. And the moguls--Brian Roberts, Comcast honcho. And the would-be moguls--Mark Yagalla, world-class embezzler. And so many more, including--writing in their own words--Terry Gross, Patti LaBelle, W. Wilson Goode, Sr., Judy Wicks, Judith Rodin, and Smarty Jones (proving that this horse is no one-trick pony). And so many more--25 of them in all. The people--and the horse--who have meant something to this city during the last 20 years. Ripped from the pages of Philadelphia magazine (well, OK, carefully removed and lovingly pasted into this book), here are profiles of the people who made an era.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Robert Huber is senior editor at Philadelphia magazine. Benjamin Wallace is editor-at-large at Philadelphia magazine.

REVIEWS

"The sensory experience of Philadelphia comes every time I walk through it or ride through it. It's exciting and refreshing, but it's still not enough. I want secrets both delicious and dark. I want the intimacies of the people who make this city so unlike any other. Which is where Philadelphia magazine comes in.... Its journalism is the best of any urban magazine in the country, tough when it has to be, unflinching when it has to be, compassionate when it has to be.... If you want to know the heart of Philadelphia, the complete heart with all the different veins, sit back and enjoy and read these wonderful pieces..."—Buzz Bissinger, from the Foreword

"In the 1960s and 1970s, Philadelphia magazine was a pioneer of the so-called New Journalism and largely defined the template of what a city or regional magazine can be. At a time when most city magazines were Bibles of Babbitt, peddling gaseous boosterism and selling content to advertisers, Philadelphia was breaking china in Main Line drawing rooms, shining light into the smoky back rooms of Old Philadelphia power, and writing unflinchingly about the city's seamy underbelly.... One of the staples of the magazine has always been the profile, an in-depth prose portrait of a newsmaker or larger-than-life character who in some way defines Philadelphia. This volume brings together, for the first time, some of the best of these pieces. The subjects are among the brightest lights in the recent history of Philadelphia—with a handful of infamous charmers and oddballs included for good measure—captured with a greater depth and intimacy than in any other medium."—Robert Huber and Benjamin Wallace, from the Introduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS

Foreword by Buzz Bissinger

Introduction by the Editors

1986 - 1994
Sandra Newman (1988)-by Lisa DePaulo
Arlen Specter (1992)-by Alicia Mundy
Mumia Abu-Jamal (1993)-by Devin Leonard
Bobby Simone (1993)-by Lisa DePaulo
Mayor Ed Rendell (1994)-by Lisa DePaulo

My Philadelphia Story: W. Wilson Goode, Sr.

1994 - 1999
Robert Montgomery Scott (1995)-by Mark Kram, Jr.
Senator Rick Santorum (1995)-by Eric Konigsberg
Mike Schmidt (1995)-by Larry Platt
Anne d'Harnoncourt (1996)-by Amy Donohue

My Philadelphia Story: Judy Wicks

Brian Roberts (1997)-by Larry Platt
Frank Bender (1997)-by Sabrina Rubin Erdely
Richard Glanton (1997)-by Mark Cohen

My Philadelphia Story: Judith Rodin

Harry Jay Katz (1997)-by Stephen Rodrick
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown (1997)-by Jim Quinn
Richard Sprague (1998)-by Buzz Bissinger
Mike Teti (1999)-by Christopher McDougall

My Philadelphia Story: Terry Gross

2000 - 2004
Mayor John Street (2000)-by Christopher McDougall
M. Night Shyamalan (2000)-by Maximillian Potter
Vernon Hill (2001)-by Larry Platt

My Philadelphia Story: Smarty Jones

Mark Yagalla (2001)-by Benjamin Wallace
Kenny Gamble (2001)-by Elizabeth Gold
Julius Erving (2003)-by Robert Huber

My Philadelphia Story: Patti LaBelle

David Brooks (2004)-by Sasha Issenberg
Dr. William Norwood (2004)-by Jason Fagone
Lang Lang (2004)-by Christopher McDougall

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