I know Steven Katz (and Bill Bryson)
Hello AT lovers:
Someone e-mailed me about this thread and I thought that you might be interested in some more info about A WALK IN THE WOODS, Bill Bryson and Steven Katz.
When I reviewed Bryson's recent memoir about growing up in Des Moines in the Dayton Daily News I was not able to include a number of factoids. I have known Steven Katz for 25 years. "Katz" and Bryson are older than I am but we all went to the same high school. When A WALK IN THE WOODS came out I tried to get an interview with Bryson on my radio show (I did an author interview program for many years on public radio). Bryson's publisher told me that he wasn't available (he was in Australia).
Since I wanted to cover the book I needed to interview somebody and since I was aware that my friend Matthew Angerer was really Steven Katz I called him up and did an interview with him. During that interview he told my audience that Bryson took a lot of liberties with his portrayals of things in the book.
Some of the funniest things like Katz chasing women around laundromats and his passion for junk foods were (according to Katz) either greatly exaggerated or completely untrue.
Katz was unmasked as Angerer a couple of years ago. A British tabloid sent some reporters to Des Moines to look for Katz. They drove to his small town and by an amazing bit of luck drove down the street and found him standing in his yard. They wrote an expose' in which they showed photos and got embarrassing quotes about Bryson. Katz was paid for his interview. Bryson, the top-selling non-fiction writer in the UK was not amused. I asked Bryson about it this year. He was still indignant.
I have interviewed Bryson 4 times now and Katz twice about various books. Katz appears as himself (Matthew Angerer) in the new Bryson book. That fact is not transparent, however Angerer is thanked by name in the credits.
In regard to A WALK IN THE WOODS fading away: the book has sold millions of copies. Bryson has become a multi-millionaire as a result. Katz still lives from hand to mouth. Everything Bryson publishes now sells like hotcakes because of A WALK IN THE WOODS.
Last week, A WALK IN THE WOODS was published in a new trade paperback edition and I can assure you that it will sell like hot showers on the AT.
The book is far from over. Thanks, for your interest.
Vick Mickunas
the best stuff gets left out
Thanks, for your comments.
It's true, Katz was in that early book. I think that was Bryson's first book. Bryson told me that Katz was almost a cardboard cutout figure in that book. His personality really was not on display.
There was one incident on that trip that Bryson and Katz took through Europe that was not included in that book. Katz (Angerer) told me about it years ago and Bryson admits that it really happened.
They were in Turkey and they over-indulged in raki, the Turkish national drink. As they stumbled down the street they were passing by a plate glass window when the boisterous Katz pushed Bryson. Billy smashed right through it. They ended up in court and narrowly escaped incarceration for their prank.
If things had ended differently, A WALK IN THE WOODS might have been more like MIDNIGHT EXPRESS.
Thanks, for listening. Happy New Year...
Vick Mickunas