tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50695016014263129852024-03-07T22:13:42.042-08:00Freelance Writer at LargeI am an Omaha, Neb. freelance writer delving into the wide open possibilities of blogging. My posts are samples of the cultural journalism I write. The articles include: never before published works; pieces that were published in less than satisfactory ways; and stories that got into print but didn't reach as wide an audience as I hope they find here. If you like what you read, please follow my blog and refer others to it.Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-4052620592461053972010-05-11T13:27:00.002-07:002010-05-11T13:27:59.794-07:00Being Dick Cavett
Former TV talk show host Dick Cavett has been kind enough to grant me several interviews over the years, but we had always spoken by phone, that is until last summer, when we finally met face to face. This story is largely drawn from that encounter. I have always liked Cavett for his wit and charm and genuine fondness for his native Nebraska.The story appeared in The Reader (Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-8492751231495637432010-05-11T13:27:00.000-07:002010-05-11T13:27:16.560-07:00Size Matters: The Return of Alexander Payne, Not that He was Ever Gone
I enjoy a unique relationship with acclaimed filmmaker Alexander Payne that has resulted in my writing several articles on him and his creative process. He has accorded me many in-depth interviews and he’s invited me to the set of three of his feature films. My work has covered the arc of his feature filmmaking career. I hope to do a book about his creative process.This articleLeo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-64844306066612741492010-05-11T13:25:00.001-07:002010-05-11T13:25:53.867-07:00Alexander Payne's Post-'Sideways' Blues
This story appeared in The Reader (www.thereader.com) in the after-glow of Alexander Payne’s triumph with Sideways, whose unexpected success had mixed effects on the filmmaker. When I met with him in Omaha for the interview that led to this story he was a bit put out by everything that had come at him after Sideways. Offers and requests and inquiries to a new order or scaleLeo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-31124173745332045802010-05-11T13:24:00.001-07:002010-05-11T13:24:56.654-07:00'Every day I'm not directing, I feel like a die a little'-Alexander Payne
Where Alexander Payne was somewhat frazzled after Sideways hit big and the attendant fallout put on a strain on his life at a time when he was dealing with a lot of other things, he was soon back to his old self again. This story, which appeared in The Reader (www.thereader.com), charts how Payne came out of his Sideways funk to attend to a series of projects that Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-44955751931014550792010-05-11T13:23:00.001-07:002010-05-11T13:23:53.262-07:00Master of Light, Mauro Fiore
When I discovered a couple years ago that world-class cinematographer Mauro Fiore was living quietly in Omaha I added him to my checklist of persons I must interview. I didn’t do anything about contacting him until I found out he shot the live action sequences for Avatar, which of course blew up to become the highest earning film in history. That gave me a sense of urgency and Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-27931310172036535902010-05-11T13:22:00.001-07:002010-05-11T13:22:51.403-07:00Kitty Williams Finally Tells Her Survivor Tale
I have been profiling Holocaust survivors for two decades. A survivor in the Omaha metro area who put me off for several years finally agreed to tell me her story last year so that I could share it with the general public. Her name is Kitty Williams and she lives across the Missouri River from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I am glad I persisted in getting her story but Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-71142402160538663302010-05-11T13:21:00.001-07:002010-05-11T13:21:46.680-07:00The Two Wars of Ben Kuroki
Somewhere I read something about an old World War II U.S. military veteran receiving an award. The fact that his surname was Japanese caught my attention. When I looked into his story, it became readily apparent his wartime record was nothing short of extraordinary if for no other reason than the overwhelming barriers he had to navigate just to get into the service and then to see Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-3335059224796021612010-05-11T13:20:00.000-07:002010-05-11T13:20:26.692-07:00Dream Catcher Lew Hunter's Margaritaville On the Great Plains
For years I was aware of Lew Hunter but it was only a couple years ago I first met him, and he turned out to be every bit as interesting as I had heard and read about. Lew is the kind of personality who overturns some common misperceptions about Nebraskans. Similarly, his long career in network television, his standing as a How-to script guru professor and author, and his pricey Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-17892844299823471572010-05-11T13:18:00.000-07:002010-05-11T13:18:22.855-07:00The Road Less Traveled Leads a Nebraska Farm Kid to a Place in Pop Culture History
I likely stumbled upon Verne Holoubek’s story the way I do a lot of figures I end up profiling — by coming across an article or item mentioning them or by someone telling me about them. Sometimes I’m given a fairly full portrait of the person, other times just a sketch. In the case of Holoubek, it was another profile subject of mine, folklorist and author Roger Welsch, who mentioned Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-39315179914771953162010-05-11T13:17:00.000-07:002010-05-11T13:17:12.090-07:00Nancy Duncan and Her Final Story
I got to know the late Nancy Duncan better than I do a lot of my profile subjects. You might even say we became friends. I had written about her and her work as a professional storyteller. We hit it off. When she developed cancer and began undergoing a regimen of treatments and surgeries, she began doing what came naturally to her — putting her experiences into stories. &Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-26105339504997031882010-05-01T11:22:00.000-07:002010-05-01T11:22:48.856-07:00Freelance Writer at Large: UNO Wrestling Dynasty Built on a Tide of Social ChangeFreelance Writer at Large: UNO Wrestling Dynasty Built on a Tide of Social ChangeLeo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-81881181289502090272010-04-30T09:27:00.000-07:002010-04-30T09:50:15.750-07:00UNO Wrestling Dynasty Built on a Tide of Social ChangeIn my view, one of the most underreported stories coming out of Omaha the last 50 years was what Don Benning achieved as a young black man at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. At a time and in a place when blacks were denied opportunity, he was given a chance as an educator and a coach and he made the most of the situation. The following story, a version of which appeared in a Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-62873870514397720972010-04-30T08:57:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:57:59.285-07:00Radio One Queen Cathy Hughes Rules By Keeping It Real, Native Omahan the Creator of the Urban Radio Format
I remember reading something about Cathy Hughes somewhere years ago and after digesting the fact this African-American woman was a major media mogul born and raised in my hometown my next reaction was: Why didn't I know about her before? I mean, she's a big deal, and her hometown didn't seem to acknowledge or celebrate her success the way you would expect. One of the nice things Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-18644584232062797682010-04-30T08:55:00.001-07:002010-04-30T08:55:47.447-07:00Goodwin's Spencer Street Barbershop: We Cut Heads and Broaden Minds, Too
Growing up, I knew of a certain barbershop in northeast Omaha for one reason and one reason alone, it is where former Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers held court as a barber and firebrand activist. I never drove past Goodwin's Spencer Streeet Barbershop nor walked into it until a few years ago, when I went there to file a story on the special place it holds in the local African-American Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-19514839304414122482010-04-30T08:54:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:54:32.477-07:00When Omaha's North 24th Street Brought Together Jews and Blacks in a Melting Place Marketplace that is No More
I never experienced it, but I was long intrigued by a period of North 24th Street history in Omaha that saw African-Americans and Jews co-exist in a mutually dependent way. For the most part, Jews owned businesses of all kinds up and down and around that strip and blacks were their primary customers. North 24th Street cuts through the heart of Black Omaha going north and south and in the Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-60041294968748514322010-04-30T08:51:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:51:59.659-07:00Omaha's Sweet Sixteen Service in the All Black 530th Quartermaster Battalion
The late Billy Melton was a source and friend to me on many story projects. This dear man really knew how to live and he was a fountain of information about the African-American community in Omaha, where he seemed to know every one of a certain age. Billy led me to many great stories but a half dozen times or so he was either the sole subject of articles I wrote or a principal Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-2553293504731373212010-04-30T08:49:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:49:58.984-07:00My Brother's Keeper, The Competitive Drive MLB Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Gibson's Older Brother, Josh, Instilled in Him
The first time I met Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson he threw me for a loop, pun fully intended, when instead of the hour or so interview he agreed to he accorded me nearly five hours of his time. I had been steeled to expect the worst, having read and heard how difficult he could be to media types like me, but he was thoroughly charming, patiently Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-24161721952321459742010-04-25T19:49:00.000-07:002010-04-25T19:49:55.261-07:00Gospel Playwright Llana Smith Enjoys Her Big Mama's TimeAbout a decade ago I became reacquainted with a former University of Nebraska at Omaha adjunct professor of photography, Rudy Smith, who was an award-winning photojournalist with the Omaha World-Herald. I was an abject failure as a photography student, but I have managed to fare somewhat better as a freelance writer-reporter. When I began covering aspects of Omaha's African-American Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-78611206081007151272010-04-22T16:45:00.000-07:002010-04-22T17:30:47.292-07:00Ron Hull’s Magical Mystery Journey Through Life, History and Public TelevisionUntil a couple years ago Ron Hull was someone I only knew from those Nebraska Educational Television pledge drives and promos. He also introduced NET screenings of classic films, often foreign language films from the elite Janus collection. He at once came off as folksy and urbane, maybe even a little corny, but you definitely got the impression he was someone whose taste and opinion Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-35761923528069443052010-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:002010-04-21T16:54:27.913-07:00Now Wasn’t That a Time? Helen Jones Woods and The International Sweethearts of RhythmI believe it was one of two dear departed friends, either Billy Melton or Preston Love Sr., who first told me about the International Sweethearts Rhythm and Helen Jones Woods. It's a story about race, culture, gender, music, and history coming full circle. I was taken with the story as soon as I heard it, and I've never lost my affection or fascination for it. This story was published in a Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069501601426312985.post-9659966225415964912010-04-20T18:01:00.000-07:002010-04-21T17:27:02.706-07:00Omaha's Own American Gangster, Living Urban Legend Clyde Waller, Spills His Crime StoriesHere's a story that two Omaha news weeklies turned down because the subject's rather epic criminal boasts could largely not be corroborated. Omaha's African-American newspaper, The Omaha Star, did run the story, in two parts, but I wasn't satisfied with the way they were laid out and positioned -- they just kind of got lost or swallowed up in a sea of type.I wrote the piece in a way that takes Leo Bigahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01414310640713910894noreply@blogger.com0