While not many think of going to hear a presentation at a local entertainment venue, an area legend managed to not only appear at one, but also to sell out. Journalist and lawyer Michael Smerconish spoke at Sellersville Theater on Monday, Nov. 19, to promote his latest book.
Smerconish’s seventh book, Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns, was released in May, and he has been speaking at various venues across the country since. However, having grown up in Doylestown, speaking at a venue so close to his home town had a different vibe.
"I was a little nervous because when I walked out on that stage, I recognized many of the faces,” Smerconish said.
During the presentation, he spoke about a few of the stories behind some of the columns, originally published in Philadelphia's
Inquirer and Daily News, that are featured in the book. While the subject matter of many of the columns is political, many have a more personal story that connects with people of all political parties.
"It was more difficult than I thought, deciding which 100 columns would be in the book from the 1,047 that I had written over 15 years,” said Smerconish. "If I did it over again today, I would probably change some of the decisions that I made. For the most part, I’m happy with it.”
Smerconish said many of the columns that people have connected with and have approached him about the most are the ones about the little moments in life and about ordinary people,
such as tomato farmers. These columns bring out what people have in common in a political climate that wants to divide us.
"People seem to like the message of getting away from divisiveness and stressing what we have in common," Smerconish said.
