As Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is your best friend.” He then added, “Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” That was Groucho.
For many years, people have been asking me to write a book. Some have sent me clippings of my columns they’ve saved, yellowed by age, when current events have vindicated my analysis. They’ve urged me to put my views, philosophy and arguments between two covers for posterity.
My excuse has been that I just didn’t have the time. And unlike most celebrity authors in politics and the media, I didn’t have a ghost writer, and didn’t want one.
But it occurred to me that I’d already written a book in the body of my 1,600 columns in The Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and other publications over more than three decades. Many have stood the test of time and are as relevant today as when I first wrote them. Some have been prophetic, and others are valuable as historical benchmarks to set the record straight and as a correction and rebuttal to revisionist history from the usual suspects.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ve grouped a collection of these columns, with some modifications and updates, into a number of related subject areas in a just-published book, “Reality: A Plain-Talk Guide to Economics, Politics, Government and Culture” (Deer Track, October 2015).
I often ask people offering an argument to tell me where they sit before they tell me where they stand so I can identify and better understand their ideology, premises and agenda. So, the first chapter of my book, “From Brooklyn to Broadcasting,” is a mini-memoir about my modest roots, the development of my personal philosophy, my education, military experiences and my unusual journey from a career as a corporate finance executive to a media conservative. It includes some interesting and amusing anecdotes along the way, along with several pivotal life events.
Now, I don’t imagine this book is for everyone. I write my columns, of course, for people who mostly share my values and conservative views. Preaching to the choir has its virtues, especially when it serves to arm political allies with facts and arguments they can put to good use in their interactions with others. For them, I see this book as a sort of field manual in the war of ideas. It can also be useful in countering your intellectually challenged, emotionally overheated left-wing brother-in-law or helping your kids resist indoctrination from liberal teachers.
I also write for those who don’t have a firm or yet established philosophy and are receptive to different viewpoints in the hope of bringing them over to our side of the public-policy debate. I’ve had some success reaching reasonable folks of a left-center persuasion and am always gratified when I score a convert in that camp. But I have no illusions about converting ideologically committed radicals of the Bernie Sanders variety who write angry, ignorant letters to the editor. They’re beyond the reach of rational discourse.
As a collection of essays written concisely to newspaper-column space, the book is an easier read for those who might be put off by intimidating, 50-page chapters. It’s available at Tattered Cover bookstores (currently as a No. 1 best-selling nonfiction paperback in Denver) and online at .
Michael Barone, co-author of “The Almanac of American Politics,” wrote in one of many endorsements: “From Brooklyn to broadcasting is a simple description of Mike Rosen’s career, but it doesn’t begin to convey the knowledge and wisdom he has accumulated on his journey from New York’s largest borough to the continental United States’ highest mountain range. For that you need to consult ‘Reality’ … . Enjoy.”
Freelance columnist Mike Rosen’s radio show airs weekdays from 1 to 3 p.m. on 850-KOA.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit or check out our for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
