Esquire articles from January 2002

Esquire archives from January 2002

The sound & the fury: on the evening of September 10, 2001, we were finishing our November issue. The next morning, we tore much of it up and started over The result, which included a new cover, new photos, and dramatic stories about the attack on the World Trade Center by Scott Anderson, John Falk, and Walter Russell Mead, stirred a wave of emotional responses.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... Your November cover prompted me to buy Esquire. Other magazine covers either ignored the WTC issue or gave it pithy lip service. Yours didn't. I bought the magazine and wasn't disappointed. The firsthand accounts in your pages served to deepen...

The war off drugs.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... John Falk also wrote in November about his dependence on the antidepressant Zoloft and the near-lethal consequences of his running out of it while covering the war in Bosnia ("No Zoloft, No Peace"). As a lifelong clinical depressive, I was...

A woman we love: Laurie Holden. (Man at his best).(actress)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... It started when she was six years old, when she stepped in at the last minute to play Rock Hudson's daughter in a miniseries her stepfather was directing. (A confident little pip, she told Hudson he was reading his lines wrong.) She tried to...

A brief tour of the best and worst of culture this month, featuring Teddy Roosevelt, tobacco, and Astrolide. (Man at his best: the excerpts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... BEST IMAGE GLORIFYING SMOKING --From All-American Ads of the 40's (Taschen), a great new book of vintage ads Best Text Glorifying Smoking "We'd smoke anything that burned. We tried corn silks, cedar bark, coffee grounds and grape vines...

43 reasons to be optimistic about 2002. (Man at his best).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... 1. The Sopranos will return. 2. Rudy Giuliani will not go away. 3. The surprisingly decent U. S. soccer team will actually win some games in June's World Cup. 4. January is National Oatmeal Month. 5. A midseason sitcom called...

The rules. (Man at his best: entertainment).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Rule No. 192: The sniffing of one's finger is a pleasure best indulged discreetly. Rule No. 193: Inviting others to sniff one's finger: more discreetly still, Rule No. 205: If you are a mentally retarded character in a movie, it is imperative...

How to dress like a Tenenbaum. (Man at his best: entertainment).(filmmaker Wes Anderson discusses fashion in motion picture The Royal Tenenbaums)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)(Interview)
January 1, 2002... Wes Anderson is a detail guy. Unlike most filmmakers, the director of 1998's critically worshiped Rushmore oversees all aspects of his films, right down to the last bit of clothing. Wardrobe, in fact, plays a big role in Anderson's latest, The...

Wurtzel's little helper. (Man at his best: reading).(Elizabeth Wurtzel's authorship of book More, Now, Again)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of the pill-popping memoir Prozac Nation, has written a new book called More, Now, Again, about her Ritalin addiction. As a service to the author, Esquire suggests some other pills she might consider becoming addicted...

The best wartime web sites. (Man at his best: reading).(War on Terrorism)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... NO DISRESPECT to Wolf and the gang, but 24/7 CNN is no way to take your news. Not anymore. Not when you've got the Web, that most borderless of media, at your fingertips. Here are some sites to help you grasp, decode, and survive the big new...

4 shocking facts about Mark Twain. (Man at his best: reading).(author)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... In his quest to document all things American, especially those involving grainy black-and-white photos, Ken Burns has produced a new PBS biography--and accompanying book--about Mark Twain. Here, Burns and coproducer Dayton Duncan give you some...

A short review. (Man at his best: reading).(In the Little World)(Review)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The wonderful thing about In the Little World (HarperCollins, $25) is that it doesn't contain a smidgen of false sympathy. No small feat in a book about dwarfs. Esquire writer at large John H. Richardson has penned a bighearted but brutally...

Who Is the true burger king? Genghis Khan knew from burgers. Back in the day, his Mongol warriors stashed chunks of beef under their saddles, a nifty little tenderizing trick on the road to world domination.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Who Is the true burger king? Genghis Khan knew from burgers. Back in the day, his Mongol warriors stashed chunks of beef under their saddles, a nifty little tenderizing trick on the road to world domination. Now, eight centuries later, two...

Wines to watch for 2002. (Man at his best: food & wine).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... So you're staying put. Locking up and hunkering down. Fair enough. At least let yourself take a trip around the world at dinnertime. Herewith, what I'll be drinking this year. ITALY Antinori vermentino, $18: This grape--with its surprising...

Things we won't be covering in Esquire. (Man at his best: the merchandise).(toys)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... A new line of obscene plush toys that features the characters Penisaurus and Scrotilla the Hun... The upcoming animated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire... The planned John Mellencamp/Stephen King musical... A new soy-based vodka......

The road ahead: 4 great cars for 2002. (Man at his best: the merchandise).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... For the Man Who Wants a Piece of History: What's beyond the ultimate driving machine? Ultimer? Ultimest? Already being hailed as the most sophisticated car ever assembled, the BMW 7 Series boasts a V8 that sounds like the Berlin Philharmonic (a...

Million-dollar ideas. (Man at his best: the answer fella).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Million-Dollar Ideas A Where's Osama? book, drawn by the illustrator of Where's Waldo?... Novelty speedometers (with "Grandma" at the 20-miles-per-hour mark, "Ben Affleck" at the 140-miles-per-hour mark, et cetera)... MAKE LOVE, NOT HOLY WAR...

Flag etiquette, manly ear wax & how to survive a punch. (Man at his best: the answer fella).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... ESQUIRE'S ANSWER FELLA believes that there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions, fearing they'll look stupid. So ask Answer Fella anything. If he doesn't know the answer, he'll find out who does, or who has a...

A question for our time. (Man at his best: the answer fella).(author Richard Carlson)(Interview)
January 1, 2002... A QUESTION FOR OUR TIME Esquire contacted Richard Carlson, the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All small Stuff, and asked: So is it finally time to start sweating or what? "No, I don't think sweating helps. While it's...

The analogies. (Man at his best: the answer fella).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Please select the pair that expresses a relationship most similar to that expressed in the original pair. THE MIND OF THE MARRIED MAN IS TO THE MINDS OF MARRIED MEN AS: a) Hank Hill is to Homer Simpson b) Rollerblading is to...

Be well dressed: this month's picks for what to buy, where to buy it, and how to make it your own. (The style guide: the essential).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... Vicious Cycle This month's must-have is part bomber, part motorcycle jacket, part trench coat. The style was originally created in the 1950s by Brit motorcycling outfitter Belstaff, which called it the Trialmaster and sold it in waxed cotton...

Burning down the house: demand is low, supply high, prices cheap. So why do so many companies seize on tough times to hold a fire sale? ((The Portfolio): A Man and His Money).(employee layoffs during economic slowdown; includes related article)
January 1, 2002... WHEN I FANTASIZE about how I'd run the world--which I do frequently--I choose for myself the role of benevolent dictator. The idea is that I'd be able to do what's best for the world without having to answer to fickle voters. My bold...

McCabe and Mrs. Kael: Robert Altman's New Gosford Park sends our reviewer on a trek through the 1970s "Golden Age." But how golden was it? (The Screen).(motion picture)
January 1, 2002... IT WAS JUST OVER a quarter century ago that Robert Altman made "the ultimate Altman movie"--one the late Pauline Kael saw fit, no kidding, to compare to Joyce's Ulysses. What stuck in some people's craws was that her "review" was blatant...

(The Index): 4 things you should know.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... (1) A Film You Should See A favorite at the Toronto International Film Festival, Lantana feels a bit like an Australian version of The Ice Storm: an intricate, brilliantly acted story of four couples leading lives of desperation, and a tragic...

Mo' news is bad news: network news divisions haven't been this visible in a long time. Too bad Disney and G.E. didn't dump them when they had the chance. (The Industry).(corporate profits derived from television coverage of War on Terrorism)
January 1, 2002... HERE'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT: Times have changed. Depression has been cloaking the entertainment industry just as much as it has the rest of the world. A few weeks ago, AOL Time Warner COO Dick Parsons tried to rally the troops with an e-mail...

Life in the graveyard: it took years to get here, and too many missed warnings. But Afghanistan, this is what we've gotten ourselves into. (War).(War on Terrorism)
January 1, 2002... ARTILLERY FIRE RUMBLES LIKE THUNDER in the hills above the Kokcha River in northern Afghanistan. The pack horses tap their way down into the rocky riverbed and wade in, the rushing water soaking my legs. On a saddle of burlap stuffed with hay...

Tripping: time again for that other kind of holiday. Whether it's a secluded villa or a grand hotel, Esquire has the easy-traveling threads to keep a guy cool in the balmy places. (Esquire Style).(fashion)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... [Taormina] Pick Sicily for a midwinter getaway and you'll need some new threads to wear around the villa. Most designers' resort collections, which you'll find in stores now, include plenty of lightweight cotton and canvas for folks in search...

1,000 years worth of wisdom and wild foolishness from 17 extraordinary lives. (What I've Learned).(celebrity quotations)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... "Second place is really the first loser" --GEORGE STEINBRENNER "My favorite color is chocolate." -HOMER SIMPSON "If everybody knew the truth about everybody else's thoughts, there'd be way more murders." --GEORGE CARLIN "Modesty is an...

George Steinbrenner: owner, New York Yankees, 71, New York City. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... If you haven't got a hernia yet, you ain't pulling your share. I defy anyone to eat a powdered jelly doughnut without getting some of it on them. Not that it stops me from trying. Before every home World Series game, I walk the...

George Carlin: comedian, 64, Venice, California. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I was in my mother's belly as she sat in the waiting room of the abortionist's office. Dr. Sunshine was his code name. I was fifty feet from the drainpipe, and she saw a painting on the wall that reminded her of her mother, who had recently...

John Kenneth Galbraith: economist, ambassador, professor, 93, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... A good rule of conversation is never answer a foolish question. Giving an opinion that people don't want to hear can work both ways. If it's a person you like, it can be very hard. If it's a person for whom you have a major distaste, it can...

Loretta Lynn: coal miner's daughter, 66, Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... They still got a dirt road up to the town where I grew up--Butcher Holler, Kentucky. They wanted me to put a paved highway up through there, and I said, "I walked through mud up to my knees getting out, and you can do the same thing." Some...

Chuck Berry: musician, 75, St. Louis. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I'll be doing just fine if you turn off that tape recorder. This isn't a performance. If you want to hear me perform, buy one of my records. I would sing the blues if I had the blues. I've always liked words. I even like some words...

At 8:48 on the morning of September 11, Michael Wright was a thirty-year-old account executive working on the eighty-first floor of the World Trade Center. Two hours later, he was something else. The story of his escape is the fastest 3,863 words you will ever read. (What I've Learned).
January 1, 2002... UP TO THAT DAY, I'd had a Brady Bunch, cookie-cutter, beautiful life. I now know what it's like to have a 110-story building that's been hit by a 767 come down on my head. For better or for worse, it's part of my life. There are things I never...

I. Witness: In his fifty-plus years as a professional photographer, Harry Benson has seen a lot. He's managed to learn a few things along the way, too.
January 1, 2002... They put me out of school when I was thirteen, came to the house and told my parents there was no point in me being there because I was just holding everybody back. I got a stupid job delivering X-ray film on a cart. As the years passed, I kept...

Larry King: talk-show host, 68, Los Angeles. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I gambled only on horses. I liked the thrill of them turning into the stretch. I still like it. Except it's not as much fun when you don't need the money. It's much more fun when you're riding on the rent. The best day I ever had at the...

Homer Simpson: nuclear-power-plant safety inspector, 39, Springfield. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... When someone tells you your butt is on fire, you should take them at their word. There is no such thing as a bad doughnut. Kids are like monkeys, only louder. If you want results, press the red button. The rest are useless. ...

Barbara Walters: journalist, 70, New York City. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I don't want to sound like I've been around since the Civil War, but there has been enormous change since I started. When I began at NBC, I was the only female writer on the Today show. Another female couldn't get a job unless the woman writer...

Jeff Bezos: founder and CEO of Amazon.com, 37, Seattle. (What I've Learned).(notes on life)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The landscape is littered with the corpses of people who have made predictions, so I won't try to predict what America will look like a hundred years from now. Nobody remembers what you said anyway, unless you're Nostradamus. My...

Robert McNamara: former secretary of defense, 85, Washington, D. C.. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... My first memory is still very clear in my mind. It was November 11,1918. I can even remember the street I lived on: 16 Clement Street in San Francisco. I can remember the streetcars coming down Geary on Armistice Day with people screaming on...

Sea of tranquillity: when your father doesn't leave a note, it falls on you to make sense of what he did.(personal narratives)
January 1, 2002... ON APRIL 8, 1976, my father drove to Lambert Airport in St. Louis, parked his car in the long-term lot, and bought a one-way ticket to Boston, where he took a cab to Cambridge, checked into the Holiday Inn a couple blocks from Harvard Square,...

Chuck Close: artist, 61, New York City. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Inspiration is highly overrated. If you sit around and wait for the clouds to part, it's not liable to ever happen. More often than not, work is salvation. Virtually everything I've done has been a product of--or has been influenced by--my...

Yogi Berra: catcher, 76, Montclair, New Jersey. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I never go to the track. I don't like horses. They take too long. Ask questions. Maybe it might lead to somethin'. I'm lucky. Usually you're dead to get your own museum, but I'm still alive to see mine. New York is always the...

Carrie Fisher: actress, writer, 45, Beverly Hills. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Nothing is just one thing. What I've learned about Hollywood you could put in a cup--a bra cup, size C. For years people have asked if I mind being remembered as Princess Leia. I used to say no. But now I will say that it sometimes...

Richard Branson: mogul, 51, London. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... If you're embarking around the world in a hot-air balloon, don't forget the toilet paper. Once, we had to wait for incoming faxes. My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise...

Ike Turner: musician, 70, San Marcos, California. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I'm pure with myself, man. I don't bullshit Ike. I bite the bullet. I don't lie to me. You can feel when people are yessin' you. You can feel the real. I always showed them what to do. I can go and record any girl you bring in here...

Edward Teller: scientist, 93, Palo Alto, California. (What I've Learned).
January 1, 2002... I'm proud to be called the father of the H-bomb. It was necessary. If not for me, the H-bomb would have been developed in Russia first. In the U. S., we would now be speaking Russian. That I spent my life working on weapons, I have not...

What I've learned: the designers: with more than a century of experience among them, the arbiters of american style share some thoughts about unfussy fashion and how to dress their kind of American man.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Tom Ford [GUCCI AND YVES SAINT LAURENT, 40, PARIS] The best thing about my job is the pleasure of being surrounded by beautiful things. > Fashion is one of the only ways in which we can manufacture ourselves, be refreshed and changed. But...

God: creator/ruler, immortal, the celestial kingdom of heaven. (What I've Learned).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Say something in a deep, booming voice and people take notice. I shouldn't have favorites, but I think "Thou shalt not have false gods before me" is my best commandment. It's very important to comb your beard every day. I hate the...