So says Brangien Davis in this lengthy feature previewing "The Commitment," due to be released later this month by Dutton. Among other topics, Davis talks to the sex columnist and editor of The Stranger about his family -- both old and new -- and gay marriage. Explaining why he doesn't feel that the family focus of "The Commitment" is philosophically at odds with his weekly sex column, Savage says, "If people are reading my column closely, I think they can see I'm conservatively pro-family. Most people have sex with their spouses, and being pro-sexual-pleasure is the way to keep that love alive."

Continue ReadingDan Savage’s New Book “About Creating and Appreciating Family”

"The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family" is a look at marriage and, as the publisher's promotional copy puts it, "the culture of couple-hood," illustrated by the dynamics of Savage's own family -- his partner, their adopted son, his conservative Republican dad and his Catholic mom. Dutton will publish the book on September 22.

Continue ReadingDan Savage’s New Book Slated for Late September Release

On her blog this morning, the Santa Fe Reporter editor summarizes the AAN/Medill Writers Workshop, as well as the Editorial Committee meeting that preceded it. She says the programming "was all quite good," with the high point for her being the discussion between Westword editor Patricia Calhoun and former Westword writer, Julie Jargon, about their story that broke the Air Force rape scandal. She also says Dan Savage was funny and provocative, and although she thinks his philosophy is "pretty reductive," he had everyone "talking about what he had to say well into the night."

Continue ReadingJulia Goldberg on the Medill Conference

Savage is editor of The Stranger and author of the ubiquitous Savage Love, and Bogira is a staff writer for the Chicago Reader and author of the recently released and highly-praised "Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse." Also on tap: Mike Sager ("Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n Roll and Murder"), an award-winning writer for Esquire magazine who started his journalism career at Creative Loafing. The workshop will be held at the Medill School of Journalism on the Northwestern Univ. campus on Aug. 12-13; registration materials will be issued next week.

Continue ReadingDan Savage, Steve Bogira to Present at AAN/Medill Writers Workshop

He'll take over as senior writer and media critic, succeeding Dan Kennedy, who's leaving to teach at Northeastern. A decade ago, Kennedy became the paper's media critic when Jurkowitz (pictured) went to work for Boston Magazine -- and, later, the Boston Globe. Writes Kennedy: "I was fortunate enough to work with Mark for three and a half years before taking over his beat. I learned a hell of a lot from him."

Continue ReadingMark Jurkowitz to Replace His Replacement at Boston Phoenix

Requests for the Nov. 11 edition of The Stranger are pouring into the Seattle alt-weekly's offices, largely from readers who found a degree of post-election solace in the issue's unorthodox cover, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The cover features text in a series of colored bars that reads "Do not despair," before reassuring readers that they're part of a "diverse, dynamic, and progressive … urban archipelago" that voted overwhelmingly for Kerry. "People really responded to it," says editor Dan Savage, who wrote the cover text. Incoming requests for the issue number around 500, and that's just the beginning. "People want T-shirts, people want posters," says Savage.

Continue ReadingPost-Election Stranger Cover Becomes a Collector’s Item

Seattle, Wash., alt-weekly The Stranger has tabbed five creative types for its annual Genius Awards, reports Regina Hackett of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The awards, which Stranger editor-in-chief Dan Savage describes as a middle ground between the MacArthur and Publishers Clearinghouse Awards, debuted in 2003. Like last year, each of this year's winners receives a cake frosted with the words "You're a genius!" and a promise of $5,000. A party for the winners will be held Oct. 15 at Western Bridge, a Seattle art space.

Continue ReadingThe Stranger Salutes Genius with Cake

Dan Kennedy tells PR Week he gets up so early to read The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The New York Times, plus Romenesko, Slate, Salon, Instapundit, Kausfiles, Drudge and other bloggers on the Web. But, he confesses, "I do not watch as much television as I should." The blog is an ill-defined part of his job done primarily for self-entertainment, he says in a Q&A interview.

Continue ReadingBoston Phoenix Media Blogger Explains What Wakes Him before 6

Amy Jenniges, a reporter for The Stranger, was denied a marriage license to legalize her relationship with her longtime lesbian partner. To make a point about the so-called sanctity of marriage, Jenniges' gay editor, Dan Savage, asked if he could get a license to marry her. Because the two met the man-woman criterion, the King County Clerk's office granted the license. Savage told Matt Markovich of KOMO 4 News in Seattle that he and the woman he doesn't love planned to stay married just 55 hours and 10 minutes in order to best Britney Spears.

Continue ReadingDan Savage Ties Knot with Lesbian Reporter