Tales of the Truly Unpleasant - Softcover

Johnston, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1450222048 ISBN 13: 9781450222044

Publisher: iUniverse, 2010

Synopsis

Two decades of laughs ... and wisdom? For 20 years, starting in 1988 and continuing to 2007, Steve Johnston's humor columns were a reader favorite in The Seattle Times. Now, for the first time, his family has collected some of their favorites in this book - immortalizing, among other things, Steve's wife Nancy, the "Truly Unpleasant Mrs. Johnston." Here you will find more than 40 of the 200 or so Sunday Punch columns he wrote for the newspaper's Pacific Northwest magazine, plus a tasty selection of the "restaurant reviews" and Just Ask Johnston question-and-answer columns he did for the paper's Eastside edition. Settle back, prepare to chuckle ... and perhaps nod your head in agreement as Steve recounts his life with a big and sometimes noisy family, among many other topics. A word from a boss... When people learned that I worked at The Seattle Times, their first question - usually asked with an air of hopeful expectation - was, "Do you know Steve Johnston?" That was followed quickly by, "Is he really like what he sounds like in his columns?" And, "Is his wife 'Truly Unpleasant'?" The short answers were yes, yes and definitely, absolutely no. Steve connected with so many readers not just because he is funny (though many women failed to appreciate the humorous way he regarded his wife, Nancy, in print), but because he writes about life in ways many of us experience it. In a word, Steve's writing is genuine. So is he. Steve's stories are funny, but they are also filled with timeless insights about life that make them worth reading again and again. Enjoy. Alex MacLeod Managing Editor, 1986-2003 The Seattle Times

About this title

From the Inside Flap

What you'll find inside this book...

· A Foreword by Molly Johnston ... with comments about their dad from her three brothers as well.

· A Preface by Steve ... ruminating sagely, among other things, on where it all started - in the 7th grade.

· How they first met - and we assume Steve wasn't calling Nancy "the Truly Unpleasant" back then!

· The Sunday Punch years: More than 40 of the columns he wrote for Pacific (later Pacific Northwest) magazine between 1988 and 2007. Organized in these chapters:

o Cruisin' Colby (remembering his years in scenic Everett)

o Krazy Kids and Fatherhood

o `Tis the season to be ... crazy? (Holidays with the Johnstons)

o It's the pits (a look inside his home life, of course)

o Life in hell (Not really, dear!) - all about a wonderful marriage

o And finally: The "Truly Unpleasant" got her chance to offer a rebuttal in the magazine.

· Bonus material! If you weren't reading the Eastside edition of The Seattle Times back in the 1990s, you missed these gems:

o "Just Ask Johnston" - in which our columnist tackles readers' questions on everything from the world's most important invention, to the cause of that red, white and blue lightning.

o "The Two Steves," a bit of literary burlesque thinly disguised as restaurant reviews.

About the Author

Steve Johnston has been a journalist for over 30 years. He retired from the Seattle Times after 26 years of employment there. While at The Times he wrote as a reporter, columnist and editor. His most popular columns were the Sunday Punch and Just Ask Johnston.

He has also been happily married for over 30 years to the Truly Unpleasant Mrs. Johnston and has four lovely children, 3 grandchildren and a dog.

About this edition

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1450222048
• ISBN 13: 9781450222044
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152