Michael A. Smerconish

On April 27th Michael Smerconish’s fourth book, Morning Drive: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Talking, will be released by Globe Pequot/The Lyons Press. It's quite unlike anything Michael has published previously. This manuscript is actually two books in one: A political manifesto in which he offers viewpoints on every issue from same sex relationships to the hunt for bin Laden, as well as a behind the scenes look at the world of talk radio and television punditry.

Regular listeners of The Michael Smerconish Morning Show know that he fashions himself as a raconteur. Morning Drive gives Michael the opportunity to share lots of stories about his unique personal experiences. Michael reflects on meeting Ronald Reagan during his senior year in high school, stumbling into a Brussels whorehouse while working for Vice President George H.W. Bush, maturing from Frank Rizzo’s pen-pal to his political director, recounting how he almost lost his life when paying poll workers on behalf of Arlen Specter on the night of the senator's 1986 re-election, getting started in talk radio at WWDB, moving to morning drive in Philly after Imus got fired (and later trying out for Imus' job at MSNBC when the I-Man was fired yet again). Michael talks about what happened the night he sat in Bill Maher's “wing-nut” chair on HBO, why Barbara Walters told him he should have changed his name during a visit to The View, and what it was like to be master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in front of 20,000 people at one of his final campaign rallies in 2004, and a witness to Barack Obama's historic speech about race at the National Constitution Center in 2008.

Michael is scheduled to launch the book on the day of its release (April 27) on the Today Show. Later that week, he will present some of the stories encompassed in Morning Drive in front of a live audience at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, New Jersey. This will be a one-man show on Friday, May 1st beginning at 7:30 p.m. His hunch is that this will either be a fantastic performance or a train wreck. Either way, you'll want to be there, and you can't beat the deal. For $30, you’ll receive a signed, hardback copy of the book (a $25 value) and admission to the show.