Madden Mischief

Like so many Americans these days we’ve become veritable pincushions. First it was the flu shot in my arm to thwart the latest influenza. Then came vaccinations one and two to ward off the creepy crawling Charles Manson-like COVID. Yesterday I took another needle for pneumococcal pneumonia and again my brave arm is wounded and … More Arms on the Battlefield

Do you ever come upon an article in one of those relics we call newspapers and it pounds your mind into attention and elicits your respect? Well, one written by nationally syndicated, Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. yanked me into reading every word, and then into rereading what stood out so powerfully in the Miami … More IS LEONARD PITTS JR. A SORT OF MODERN-DAY MESSIAH OF JOURNALISM?

When President Biden answered that fateful question at his first press conference whether he would run for a second term, many reporters noted solemnly he would then be 82, while some seemed to snicker he’d be President Methuselah.  The more conservative media commentators on FOX NEWS pronounced 82 as if he’d be comatose by then … More HOW OLD WILL BIDEN BE WHEN HE RUNS AGAIN?

Welcome to art in plastics. The Pandemic Playground is a surreal composition comprising a phantasmagoria of plastics my wife Rita and I collect each day off the public beach in front of our stately oceanfront condo, The Chalfonte. Behold the plastic toys, buckets, shovels and rakes.  Plastic seahorses, smiling starfish and pearly fish wearing underwater … More BEHOLD THE PANDEMIC PLAYGROUND

Will besieged Gov. Andrew Cuomo like his dad before him be the second Hamlet on the Hudson?   New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign, following a report of the sixth woman accusing the governor of sexual misconduct.   Would now the governor look at a picture of his dad and say alas poor … More To Resign or Not to Resign, That is the Question for Another Hamlet on the Hudson

Is there a doctor in the ocean?  No, but there are medics . . . called sharks! Sharks will never replace dogs as man’s best friend, but maybe they’re ocean’s best friend, so perhaps they need better public relations or sometimes even crisis management stressing the good things they do for our ecosystem.  Certainly, never … More THINK YOUR REPUTATION NEEDS AN UPGRADE? CONSIDER HOW UNFAIRLY WE REGARD SHARKS

This is William Hawley’s first breath of free air in over 18 years.  Even through a face mask, to him freedom tastes deliriously sweet and wonderful beyond words even for an author with his talent for writing books.  I’m Bill’s close friend, publicist and talent agent.  Besides my blog, I write books too.  My 5th … More BILL IS FREE AT LAST AFTER MANY YEARS IN PRISON

Feel The Force of JENN As She Blasts Off Clients Into Media Orbit There’s no PR pro quite like Jennifer Weinstein.  We call her an astro-publicist as the new Executive Vice President of TransMedia Group brings not only a supersonic journalism background, but a stack of media contacts tall as the Empire State Building, having … More Publicist or Media Astronaut?

If you don’t know what a kerfuffle is, or what some call a karfuffle, you’ll have to ask Boris Johnson or Merriam-Webster.   Frankly, I never heard the word until Boris, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, used it in describing Donald Trump’s recent impeachment. In an interview with a U.S. television reporter, Johnson used … More Heard the latest Kerfuffle About Senator Cruz? Did He Really Leave His Family Poodle in The Texas Deep Freeze? Fact Checkers Bark ‘False’

Most businesses today are considerably challenged by what we’re confronting these days as the virus keeps spreading and vaccines have only now gotten into high gear as they race to our immunity-starved arms.  Among the hardest hit by the pandemic are those sanctuaries for our souls, not just our churches and synagogues, but those serene … More ARE CLUB MEMBERSHIPS PRIVATELY PLUMETING OR ARE THESE BELOVED SANCTURIES PANDEMIC PROOF?

I rooted for Brady last night, but he didn’t seem to need too much to win his seventh Super Bowl. It was a piece of cake. Back in 2017, I wrote a book about the 2016 Presidential election and how President Trump was then putting his White House in order, so he could carry out … More COULD BRADY’S SEVENTH SUPER BOWL WIN HAVE MADE ANOTHER TOM’S BOOK SEVEN TIMES HOTTER WITH BRADY’S NAME AND ‘inSUPERable BOWL’ ON THE COVER?

Unhappy with the MyPillow guy Mike Lindell’s supporting former President Trump, David Hogg is ready to start a pillow fight in the first round of Pillow Politics. And Tuesday comes the ultimate pillow fight, an attempt by pillow-armed Democrats to smother any chance for Trump to ever become president again.  They’ll be betting on another … More AS IF THERE’S NOT ENOUGH POLITICS, HERE’S ONE YOU CAN TAKE TO BED BUT DON’T EXPECT TO SLEEP: PILLOW POLITICS

BOCA RATON, FL.–It was on January 25, 1994 when TransMedia Group helped to arrange and promote a major media event for one of its esteemed clients, the unveiling of Rexall Sundown’s new headquarters in Boca Raton. Celebrity spokesman Dick Clark was on hand when Boca Raton’s then Mayor Bill Smith presented the company’s chairman Carl … More MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN TRANSMEDIA GROUP’S 40-YEAR-HISTORY IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

There is so much newness and blueness in our lives these pan-demonic days that it might not only be appropriate, but necessary to consider expanding our vocabulary. So, here are some new terms that will take us into the far reaches of this pandemic as we hide from the wicked witch virus from the far … More WELCOME TO A STARTLING NEW PANDEMIC VOCABULARY

The international PR firm, TransMedia Group that I started back in 1981 will celebrate its 40th year in business on Feb. 1.  And like the iconic “Energizer Bunny,” TransMedia still keeps going.    Over the years TransMedia has served clients worldwide with distinction, starting with AT&T as its first, which at the time was the largest … More TRANSMEDIA GROUP TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS STARTING WITH AMERICA’S LARGEST COMPANY AS ITS FIRST CLIENT

The vaccine was supposed to roll out to us citizens 65 and older at “warp speed.”  But I think it’s coming to our starving arms more at “warped” speed, not “warp speed.”  “Warp speed” means extremely high speed, but what we’re seeing and definitely not feeling in our arms is a far cry from that. … More IS THE COVID VACCINE COMING AT ‘WARP SPEED’ OR MEANDERING AT SNAIL’S PACE TOWARD OUR ARMS

THIS ONE? “NO, I’M AFRAID WE’VE GOT NO CHOICE.” Watching the classic film “Citizen Kane” on TCM last night, I could just imagine Orson Welles licking his chops wanting so much to play a remake called “Citizen Trump.” I couldn’t help thinking how much “Citizen Kane” was similar to current events or maybe it was … More CHANGE ‘ELECTED’ TO ‘REELECTED’ AND SCENE FROM ‘CITIZEN KANE’ EERILY EQUATES TO CURRENT EVENTS

After you urged that mob so forcefully to “fight” and march on the Capitol, you need emergency crisis management.  What happened afterward is a despicable event that will live in infamy to the peril of your legacy if you don’t do something right away to counter the strong political tide now running against you.    … More ONLY DAYS LEFT, MR. PRESIDENT, SO BE BRADY! THROW CRISIS MANAGEMENT TD PASSES TO QUELL FALLOUT FROM CAPITOL CHAOS YOUR RHETORIC INCITED

First, if you don’t mind, I would like to add a few pardons of my own.  I want to pardon my daughter for giving me so many nuts for Christmas. They were in this humongous bag stuffed in a large wicker basket wedged between  two odd couple bottles, one containing rubbing alcohol, the other my … More PLEASE PARDON THIS PARODY ON PARDONING

I don’t know about you, but I’m ninety percent satisfied with Joe Biden’s “most diverse” cabinet in history.  I just hope we continue to fill cabinet positions with people who are not just diverse, but super smart, fully capable.  Yes, certainly the president elect has taken steps in the right diverse direction.  No question.  And … More WILL THERE BE ENOUGH DIVERSITY IN THAT WHITE IGLOO IN WASHINGTON?

Hello.  Can you tell me where the herd is?  I’d like to join it, the one with the immunity everyone’s talking about.  I need it bad! I’ve been waiting impatiently cloistered in my condo pasture, while immunity is taking its sweet time to come home to me.  Meanwhile, I see no sign of any herds … More I’M A DOMESTIC ONE HOOFED HUSBAND ANXIOUSLY AWAITING HERD IMMUNITY

Everybody looks like somebody, right?  Well, take a quick look at some of these CEO’s in the news, like Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America and Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla.   Occasionally, I see a slight resemblance to some of the stars in the classic movies my wife and I see on TCM?   Brian runs … More Do Some CEO’s Remind You Of Movie Stars You See on TCM?

HOW WE PICK LEADERS IS MORE LIKE A HORSE RACE The contenders in this past America Derby were the favorites, “The Economy” (3 to 2) ridden by Donald Trump and “Pandemic” ridden by Joe Biden (2 to 1).  Pandemic is the only horse with blinders while besides conventional hat and goggles jockey Biden proudly dons … More THE AMERICA DERBY

Know ye this immutable fact.  The all-powerful rulers in Florida are a privileged, high-and-mighty class called the condostocracy. All societies, countries, communities, corporations and Florida condominiums  have the same basic structure.    First there are the aristocrats, the privileged few comprising dictators, elder statesmen, governors, CEOs, FED chairmen and the condo kings and queens with the … More KINGS, CONDO PRESIDENTS AND SNOWBIRDS ARE THE PRIVILEGED FEW IN FLORIDA

You want words to tell her you love her? But not so many that’ll smother? Here’s what I advise you brother Go see the Wordshine Man. Once scuffed, dirty shoes needed polish Nowadays it’s words that won’t shine So I tell you bro, consult a word pro Go see the Wordshine Man. A magician with … More WORDSHINE MAN™

Yes, we’re a Nation of firsts.  And we don’t exactly skimp on pardons either. Starting with Abraham Lincoln, we were the first to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving.   And the pardons kept coming. Then we were first to elect a black President, Obama.  Next, we elected the first billionaire businessman President, Trump.  He set the … More Happy Thanksgiving America! Look at all the Firsts We’ve Achieved

They’re dragging PR through the mud. Media are reporting President Trump’s inviting Republican state leaders from Michigan to The White House and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s unsubstantiated charges at a recent press conference as just “PR moves.”  What’s a “PR move?”  It’s sounding like a purely theatrical exercise to convince people to believe something … More I’M WORRIED ABOUT ‘PR’ AND THE BATTERING MY PROFESSION’S SHORTHAND NAME IS GETTING IN THIS POST-ELECTION BROUHAHA

With cases of COVID spiking, deaths mounting and hospitals overflowing with victims in her state, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem opposes government- imposed mask mandates. She argues masks have not been proven to halt the spread of infections and doesn’t feel it’s right for her to force people to wear them. Really, Governor?  If South … More Why Are Some of Our Leaders So Mask Averse?

The technical name for it is trypanophobia, which is an extreme fear of injections or hypodermic needles.  Could a new term now be about to enter the lexicon of medical mythology?  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may have fathered a new myopic malady called Cuomophobia, defined as an unfounded fear of being politically vaccinated.  Congratulations, Gov.  Cuomophobia!  … More WILL WE NEED ANOTHER ELVIS TO COMBAT CUOMOPHOBIA?

So will the Blue Wave and Red Wave now please stop breaking chops, flow forward and shake waves!  Listen you wrangling waves, there’s only one true wave in America and while its colors are red and blue, let’s not forget that strip of white between them.    We are the red, white and blue.  You … More IN AMERICA THERE’S ONLY ONE WAVE!

Questions keep arising about whether our country’s assiduous vote counting might have leaned a little too much in favor of one candidate over another in certain places.  But systemic fraud?   Don’t see a case there yet!  Unfairness?   Yes, there seems to be some systemic unfairness in certain places, such as discovery of a number of … More WHEN DOES THE OINTMENT HAVE TOO MANY DEM FLIES? WHO’S THE FAVORITE CANDIDATE AMONG DEAD VOTERS?

Finally, it’s come.  Predilection Day when we exhibit our penchant for this or that party and our perhaps presumptuous preference for President. It’s been a long stormy voyage to reach this destination, yet we may still not be able to drop anchor nor end our rancor for probably several more anxious days.  But at best, … More IT’S HERE. PREDILECTION DAY

If a cliché is an expression used so much its become trite or irritating, why do so many TV commentators still use them over and over?  Unabashedly.  I guess thinking they’re clever.  Or cute.  Ugh! Lately, CNBC takes the cliché crown.  It’s almost becoming a cliché hangout. Yes, it seems clichés are “the order of … More WHY SO MANY CLICHÉS SWARMING OVER TV?

How frighteningly different will be this Halloween! We’ll all have these same two trick or treaters racing to our doorstep. One is a sleepy-looking, but intensely irritated Joe Biden wearing a monstrous facemask.  He says “Don’t believe this clown next to me.  He has no fracking sense how to be a president of ALL the … More HAPPY HALLOWEEN VOTERS

Larry Klayman’s latest book “It Takes a Revolution,” pulls no punches just like Larry, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, does boldly, but politely in courtrooms across the country, often to the exasperation of legions of federal judges who are perhaps not as uncomfortable or outraged as he is over injustices and corruption he … More NO, HILLARY, MORE THAN A VILLAGE, IT WILL TAKE ‘A REVOLUTION’ TO RESTORE THE NATION TO THE VISION AND CREATION OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS, SAYS LARRY KLAYMAN!

I’ve spent practically my whole life trying to navigate . . . unchartered waters. Today you hear that term a lot.  So many of us are endeavoring to survive this pandemic that’s forcing us to try new ways of doing things, apply different approaches, adopt new methods to put food on our tables, make ends … More LOOK OUT! WE’RE ON UNCHARTERED WATERS!

We all use words loosely, casually, repeatedly.  We say certain words over and over, so often they become anemic, insipid, commonplace expressions, losing their vigor, their impact.  Their oomph! One of the most lightly tossed around words in everyday discourse is becoming a conventional expression, yet it represents the most profoundly beautiful, poignant, most touching, … More WHEN YOU FEEL THE MEANING OF WORDS

I had just distributed my latest MaddenMischief blog “Three Howls for Wily Wolf Versus Smiling Pelosi.” In it, I commended WOLF BLITZER for bravely holding the dug-in feet of mechanically-smiling speaker Pelosi to the fire on CNN for turning her back on President Trump’s $1.8 trillion stimulus offer while many of her constituents can’t pay … More The Poignant Side of the Stimulus Stalemate

BLITZER bravely held the feet of mechanically-smiling speaker Pelosi to the fire on CNN last night for turning her back on President Trump’s $1.8 trillion stimulus offer while many of her constituents can’t pay rent or afford food. I couldn’t believe my eyes watching speaker Pelosi beaming and smiling broadly in the face of CNN’s … More THREE HOWLS FOR WILY WOLF VERSUS SMILING PELOSI

I see why Biden loves swinging at soft balls so much. And gets lots of practice. Last week some of the so-called “undecided voters” at the NBC-Biden town hall who were lobbing soft balls at him were once identified as Biden supporters when they previously appeared on TV . . . on MSNBC.  Really?  If … More Biden Was The Clear Winner in NBC’s Town Hall in Miami, But Were Soft Ball Questions Lobbed at Him Coming From Voters Only Pretending to be Undecided?

At the end of each NBC Nightly News, news anchor Lester Holt looks straight into the camera and earnestly says: “Please take care of yourself, and each other.” It’s a beautiful thought.  He delivers it sincerely.  Superbly! I would just like to suggest one thing.   I’d invite Lester to consider adding these  words, which would … More THIS WOULD ALMOST SANCTIFY LESTER’S SIGNOFF ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS BY ADDING . . . ‘NO MATTER WHAT SIDE YOU’RE ON, WE’RE ALL AMERICANS’

Just a few days before the news broke about President Trump testing positive for coronavirus, I attended a virtual interview session on CommPRO.biz featuring President Nixon’s former lawyer John Dean, who played a starring role in one of our country’s most jarring political disasters–Watergate. While I was a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, I taught … More FROM SINNER TO SAINT, THE SAGA OF JOHN DEAN, WHOSE LATEST BOOK ‘AUTHORITARIAN NIGHTMARE’ IS ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS ‘ALPHA MALE’ FOLLOWERS

Mr. President, soon as you’re out of danger and feeling up to it, I offer you this crisis management advice as I have helped the CEO’s of some of America’s largest corporations to deal with crises effectively, turning scalding water into bubbling cool springs.  And I’m sorry to say yours is a doozy!  Meanwhile, there … More A CRISIS MANAGER’S PR ADVICE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP

I would say that two new measures need to be added to scoring Presidential debates: 1) an Interruption Index; 2) Name Calling Count as last night both were through the roof. Yes, to put it mildly, it was over-the-top NASTY! President Trump scored the most interruptions ever recorded during a Presidential debate interrupting his opponent, … More HOW MANY INTERRUPTIONS DID TRUMP MAKE IN LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE THAT WAS ANYTHING BUT ‘PRESIDENTIAL.’ HOW MANY NAMES DID BIDEN CALL HIM BESIDES ‘A CLOWN?’

COULD THERE BE A VIRUS WORLD WAR ONE DAY THAT WIPES OUT HUMANITY LEAVING NOTHING TO JUDGE OUR CIVILIZATION BY, BUT BOTTLE CAPS? Judging from this pandemic, I can’t help thinking there may come a time when super viruses replace nuclear bombs as the ultimate end-all weapon in international warfare. Could souped-up, vaccine-proof viruses be … More WHY IS THIS LIFELESS PLANET SO FULL OF BOTTLE CAPS?

William Hawley has only a few months left on a 15-year sentence for a non-violent offense.  He is now begging Martin County Circuit Court in Florida to release him before COVID kills him. Bill is the author of “Sex and the Serial Killer; My Bizarre Times with Robert Durst” he wrote under the pseudonym William … More WHY MUST THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK SERVE EVERY BLASTED MINUTE OF HIS PRISON SENTENCE RISKING COVID-19 WHEN HE HAS THE GOODS ON A POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER

You know what happens to mice in mousetraps, don’t you?  Well, they meet an unhappy end because they think the cheese is free.  So, is it right to just plunk down those tasty cheese balls?  This is what I’m going to ask attendees at the virtual conference “20 Days To Save The USA” Oct. 15 … More As Guest Speaker at the ‘20 Days To Save The USA’ Conference, I’m Going to Suggest Giving to Those Who Riot, Destroy Property and Curse Police—Free Cheese

A growing number of Americans believe China should pay reparations for their bungling of COVID-19 in a Wuhan lab, then for their initial coverup allowing it to spread into a global pandemic. Reparations mean the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been … More SHOULD CHINA PAY REPARATIONS FOR BACTERIOLOGICAL WAR ACTS?

These queer, unsettling days I don’t know if I’m in public relations or pandemic relations at TransMedia Group, the firm I started back in the days when you caught something, most likely it was a cold. How unnervingly different and dangerous today. Take the other day when one of our bright, young college interns tells … More GREAT NEWS! FRANK TESTED NEGATIVE. HOORAY!

Soon as our country’s battle with Coronavirus is won, another will start, which is rebuilding and repairing America’s infrastructure, its bridges, tunnels, buildings and highways  . . . all rusting away. This time, however, it will need an infrastructure that will last.  Fortunately today there’s a vaccine for infrastructure called BasaFlex, manufactured by Pompano Beach, … More BREAKING NEWS: There’s a Vaccine for America’s Endangered Infrastructure . . . Rebar That Won’t Rust

These days staying at home so much we’re all in need of getting out into the fresh air and sunshine and stretching our legs and what’s more inviting than our beaches, but we need to be careful of others around us as we might be a bit out of practice with umbrellas. So much so … More DON’T COMMIT UMBRELLACIDE BY LETTING WIND UNLEASH YOUR UMBRELLA

WEST PALM BEACH, FL.–Entry points are probably the most sensitive, most vulnerable parts of any business, especially now during the pandemic. You might say the personnel greeting visitors at our schools, hospitals and businesses here and across the country are on the front line for us, our nation, our economy. Today, protecting them are new … More DID YOU KNOW THERE’S A COMPANY HERE SAFEGUARDING WORKERS GREETING VISITORS AT BUSINESSES NATIONWIDE?

LET’S TWIST AGAIN LIKE WE DID LAST SUMMER, ONLY A LITTLE FURTHER APART PLEASE THAN WE WERE BACK THEN It was a simple dance called the Twist because all you did was that–twist. It would work perfectly today in our socially-distant society.  So let’s twist again. The twist originated in the late fifties among teenagers and was popularized by … More THE PERFECT, SOCIALLY-DISTANT DANCE FOR A PANDEMIC!

I have the pleasure or insanity of living in a hi-rise condominium in Boca Raton, FL where I just finished reading a torrent of emails blasting my beleaguered condo board’s alleged aloofness and arbitrariness. Hmmmm. Not only that, but there were a litany of allegations of incompetence, scapegoating and charges of board members speaking derogatorily … More ARE CONDO PRESIDENTS RULING MONARCHS OR POOR SCHNOOKS DOING A THANKLESS JOB?

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE GRAPHIC TO MAKE A POINT So my grandson Johnny Madden texts me a photo of himself flying a small airplane. He’s sitting next to someone in the cockpit and neither are wearing facemasks. So, I tell him if he wants to fly like a bird, he’d better wear a facemask … More GRANDSON, WEAR YOUR FACEMASK!

WHERE’S THE BEEF OR PLANT-BASED MEAT SUBSTITUTE? To be successful in PR, messages need to be deliciously to the point, satisfyingly substantive and most of all, PURPOSEFUL!  I tell this to my staff all the time at TransMedia Group on purpose! Most get the point that without proselytizing, cloaking intent, trying to razzle dazzle or … More THE LAW OF PURPOSEFUL PR

Yes, with this damndemic, we’re all on edge, feeling threatened, often nervous, uptight, vulnerable as COVID-19 surges.  Every night we hear on the news what the death toll is up to.  Sounds even higher on CNN. So much talk of death.  We can see the grim reaper in our rear-view mirror, on tattoos, hiding under … More TALE OF TWO PARTNERS: LIFE AND ITS EERIE OPPOSITE

Hopefully, this prolonged pandemic I call a damndemic, won’t have lasting effects after social distancing, wearing masks and staying home so much.  Yes, it’s keeping us safer, but I don’t think it’s making us any healthier or friendlier. So, how many masks, hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes will it take for us to return to those … More Looking For Someplace to Work Safe From COVID? PleXus to Resuscitate Those Empty Areas Called Offices?

IN 2018 I WAS DEVELOPING A TV SERIES THAT NEVER WENT ANYWHERE. NOW SOMETHING HAPPENED IN TEXAS THAT COULD MAKE IT A HOT PROPERTY Exactly two years ago this month, I was developing a TV Series titled “XtraTerresla.” I asked back then in my blog, MaddenMischief, if you can tell by the title what it’s about.  Don’t … More TIMING IS EVERYTHING, PILGRIM!

Tough Journalism or Culture Food Fight What does Trump giving a thumbs-up to Goya Foods have to do with a young New York Times reporter giving a thumbs down to the publisher in her letter of resignation. I see them somehow related as often these days it’s hard to tell when journalism ends and bias … More A Maddening View Of America

Fans of the Late Great Charlie Daniels, My Daughter Adrienne Mazzone And Her Sweetheart Michael Razler, at one of Charlie’s Country Music Concerts Only half-way through 2020 and we’ve lost already a bevy of stars not to the pandemic, but to that perpetual antagonist of mostly older folks, those natural causes that ultimately do us … More WHEN BELOVED BODS MAKE THAT FINAL BOW, SING THAT FAREWELL SONG TO NATURAL CAUSES, THE BRIGHTEST STARS MAY GO DARK, BUT THEIR FAME FLICKERS ON

 LEGENDS BETTER WATCH WHAT THEY SAY AS THEY’LL BE JUDGED NOT BY THE STANDARDS OF THEIR TIMES, BUT BY  CURRENT EVENTS, PRESENT DAY BIASES–THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY Protests over police brutality have brought hundreds of years of American history bubbling up through so many of our country’s historic monuments and statues, now … More WATCH WHAT YOU SAY, PILGRIM

Open Letter to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg In Houston, TX From  Court of Public Opinion Advocate Demanding Freedom for Lamar Burks Dear District Attorney Ogg, you probably believe Lamar Burks is guilty of murder and deserving his 70-year prison sentence, of which he has served already 20 long, hard years, but with all … More IS LIFE IN PRISON ANOTHER KNEE ON AN INNOCENT BLACK MAN’S NECK UNTIL HE CAN’T BREATHE?

After “Thank you” you might as well add “YOU SCHMUCK” for staying on hold so long. For that’s what we’re all becoming as we wait, wait, WAIT to finally talk to a live human being about credit card mischarges, our Internet having a mind of its own, another bank statement vagary. So, are you as … More ‘THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO HOLD’

Like many in my profession, I’ve lived a good part of my princely peripatetic life on Planet Publicity.  Our mission?  Making enterprising earthlings rich and famous!  My name’s Tom Madden. A boisterous boutique PR firm I launched in Manhattan in the early 80s rocketed the careers and bottom lines of many entrepreneurs and their businesses … More Meet The Real Me From Planet Publicity

You probably carried their A-Pass® with you when you last took a cruise.  It was your identity card throughout your voyage.  When you presented it upon your return from excursions at different ports,  they’d swiftly check you into their security ID system as back onboard. Happily this great company, Sisco Corp, the leader in Visitor … More YOU GOTTA LOVE A LEADER ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE RETURNS AS YOUR PR CLIENT

If Social Distancing Is Impossible in Prisons, Why Not Free Non-Violent Offenders with Little Time Left to Serve on Their Sentences? Why, Governor, do we continue to imprison non-violent offenders who have obviously reformed themselves and have served almost all their sentence? Please, Governor, when it comes to COVID-19-vulnerable prisoners, don’t let your legacy from … More OPEN LETTER TO GOV. RON DESANTIS

Former President Bill Clinton coined that term a while back when he recalled the sex scandal that led to his impeachment in 1998. He said the extramarital affair he had with Monica S. Lewinsky was a way of “managing my anxieties.” Now maybe it’s happening again. This time President Donald Trump says he’s not just … More What is it about The White House that makes U.S. Presidents so adventurous in the way they ‘manage their anxieties?’

I remember fondly my two adorably chubby, spinster aunts.  Aunt Josie sitting on her thickly upholstered chair, her legs tired from so much cooking are stretched out on the worn footrest beside the stately grandfather clock. Half asleep, she’d either be droopy-eyed watching TV or sleepily listening to her prized 1958 recording of South Pacific, … More Musicals! A Jilted Genre?

WANTED! THIS MAN AND WOMAN FOR WALKING ON THE BEACH It’s hard to believe all the angst my Open Letter to The Mayor of Boca Raton, Florida caused this week.  I dared to request that he open the “private” beach in front of our condo, just for runners and walkers like my wife Rita and … More WANTED!

To Mayor Scott Singer, Boca Raton, Fl:  Mr. Mayor, please fight this vile virus with some common sense. Many of us confined to our oceanfront condos need to exercise daily to stay fit, which means we need to walk or jog on what is our front yard, our wide empty beach. Our gyms and pools … More OPEN LETTER TO MY MAYOR

Remember a time when we were free to come and go as we please?  When we could shake hands, snug and hug? These are song lyrics from a Broadway show, long ago called My Fair Lady, revised to how we’re living today, sheltering in place, ordered not to embrace, must wear a mask on our … More I have often walked on the street before And the pavement’s always stayed Beneath my feet before. All at once am I, several stories high Confined to the condo where I live

Nothing’s easy during this crazy coronavirus crisis we’re all trying to live through.  It’s not easy being a landlord either when we’re all in a sort of foxhole together . . . at war! So happens I own an office building in downtown Boca Raton, where like everywhere else, businesses are hurting.  I run mine, … More COLLECTING RENT IN WARTIME? NOT EASY!

We got away with it.  Pulled it off.  It was like we were Bonnie and Clyde robbing a bank.  We made off with not thousands, but trillions.  And hehe, to this day they never caught us. And what did we do to feel like bank robbers?   I’ll confess, Gov. DeSantis.  Before the sun came up … More Sorry Gov, we couldn’t stand being holed up in our condo

“Should we put PR on hold until after the Coronavirus Crisis?”  We’re receiving questions like this from major clients of our PR firm, TransMedia Group. Here’s my answer to one of our clients, Hollywood celebrity hair stylist Donna Marie Fischetto, whose clients include Diane Keaton, Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Banks, Tina Fey, Hugh Jackman, Cynthia Nixon, … More Besides Masks and Quarantines, Celebrity Hair Stylist Donna Marie Sees a Role for Beauty to Play in Beating the Beast

Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer, who was known as the “Father of Brazilian Rock.”  He was also known as “Maluco Beleza,” roughly translated as “Groovy Nutcase.”  Below is his hit “O Dia Em que a Terra Parou” recorded in 1977, the latter becoming the anthem of the then … More ‘The Day the Earth Stopped,’ a song by Brazilian singer/songwriter Raul Seixas Popular in Brazil nearly 50 years ago, may have seen the coronavirus coming

With the amount of business closings and layoffs in the largest metropolitan centers like Miami, New York, Los Angeles due do the coronavirus, it is reasonable to assume there may be more desperate people in the streets, so be careful. Some of these unfortunate people might resort to holdups in the streets to replace their … More Sometimes Laughter Helps to Relieve the Tension

Borrowing from President Roosevelt’s “A Date That Will Live In Infamy” speech following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, here’s what President Trump might say about the coronavirus, this newest invader causing World War III.   The United States of America will take whatever measures are necessary for our defense against this dastardly and deadly … More Take it from a veteran speechwriter, here’s the speech I’d recommend our President consider making titled: This Villainous Virus Shall ‘Live in Infamy’

My husband and I were walking on the beach and saw this nice-looking couple working with a coconut shell. This was their first tentative creation. On the way back we saw two little boats floating. It was so beautiful to see a couple building a project together, almost like they were “Love Boats,” almost like … More Two little coconut shells become beautiful boats

Sure. A lot of people write books, but this one is personal.  Frank, true and eye opening! If you’re ever thinking about online dating, read it. Think of my latest book, “Love Boat 78,” as a four-corner stop sign.  Before proceeding, stop and read it.  Then date with caution, keeping in mind the things that … More Don’t Go on Internet Dating Sites Until You Read This Book, ‘Love Boat 78,’ Now On Amazon

Three things we crisis managers learn early on is the mantra: Tell It All, Tell It Early, Tell It Yourself, which has been repeated so often it’s almost a cliché, but it works!  I would add one more: NO MASKS ON COMMUNICATIONS, JUST OVER NOSES AND MOUTHS! When a crisis rears its ugly head, like the … More Yes, Wear Masks for Protection, But Take Them Off Communications

A hair hero of mine, Sy Sperling, has departed. He was the well-groomed hair apparent we loved to promote.  All of us at his former PR firm, TransMedia Group, will miss him dearly, especially that dry humor of his that made him so popular, not to mention a fortune. Sy dedicated his successful career to … More Sy Sperling, founder of Hair Club for Men, who was also a client and also my client with whom we had hair-raising adventures filming his life story in New York

I once had the privilege, pain and precarious position of being Fred Silverman’s right-hand man at NBC back in the heyday of network television when I was Vice President, Assistant to the President, who was then the TV programming wunderkind himself. Before that, I worked with Fred at ABC, where I was Director of PR. … More Last month, the television industry lost a legendary executive and producer, Fred Silverman. He was my friend and former boss at ABC and NBC. With him, I was a part of TV history. Here is the Fred I knew, loved and occasionally feared when he was in one of his testy moods. I am sending this on President’s Day as he was my CEO.

Did you know Cats, rabbits, turtles and birds might soon be grounded! I say that allowing only dogs to fly as emotional support for airline passengers calls for crisis management for cats, rabbits, turtles and birds. Could such restrictions really fly? If so, then I’m in favor of launching a PR campaign to avoid a … More CRISIS MANAGEMENT FOR CATS TO AVOID A CATTASTROPHE

PARK CITY, UTAH.–It was cold, crowded and crawling with film buffs once again at Sundance Film Festival.  Occasional snowflake flurries were hardly noticed.  Same with the snow-covered mountains surrounding bustling Main Street where daily temperatures were down in the 20s. There was lots of excitement, however. Busy goings on.  Screenings galore.  I was in one … More Was there SUN at SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL? It was more SNOWDANCE, but still FUNDANCE!

Fresh out of college, one of my first jobs was in advertising at Lennen & Newell, Inc., then a famous powerhouse Madison Avenue ad agency behemoth in Manhattan. One of the accounts I worked on there was Kent Cigarettes with the Micronite Filter.  Unfortunately, the filter turned out to be as unhealthy as the cigarette … More Ahh the things you do for money

Tonight Rita and I and two friends of ours, one with a bell ringer last name that evokes oohhs and aahhs whenever we introduce him, will be tasting the finest vintage wines with the wealthiest vintage voters for President Trump at his posh Palm Beach peachy residence, Mar-a-Lago. Am I a Republican?  Not sure, but … More You Ask What I’m Doing Here Tonight? Oh, Just Wandering Through a Wine Tasting at That Wealth Mecca, Mar-a-Lago

Remember that “you’ve got mail” sound effect back to the early days of America Online (AOL) that would make you crow or cringe each morning? Well now the uplifting message is “you’ve got winks,” that is if you’re one of the millions who belong to Internet dating sites like MillionaireMatch.com. At the suggestion of a … More Is There a Peloton That Not Only Flattens Your Stomach, But Widens Your Winks to Attractive Women?

You might say Philadelphia for me was a kind of a Rosette Nebula in my peripatetic life. For once upon a time I was a seedling in that searing cloud of gas and dust hugging Delaware Valley, working my tail off, searching for true meaning and substance to give to that cluster of stars, Temple, … More My Former Stomping Grounds, the News Room at The Philadelphia Inquirer

It’s part of the ups and downs of hi-rise living on the oceanfront in Florida . . . that mindless malady commonly known as forgetfulness.  Or absentmindedness. Fortunately, its only downsides are wasting time and elevator fatigue. We condo dwellers have a habit of forgetting our wallets, our car keys, grocery lists, that letter to … More There’s an Ailment Afoot in Condos Causing Elevator Fatigue

HOUSTON, TX.—No, your honor, this isn’t a song.  It’s a case about muddy waters of innocence versus injustice clear as a bell. When DA Kim Ogg cites “muddy waters” in trying to block evidentiary hearings for Lamar Burks, she’s not referring to the late blues giant whose vocals and piercing slide guitar we hear in … More Could This Be The Muddy Waters Kim Ogg’s Worried About?

My Baton, Please, For Our Next Number, Ukrainian Violinist ASSIA’s U.S. City Concert Tour Commencing Jan. 15 in Charlotte, NC I like to think of PR as music. Symphonic. Jazz.  Waltz.  Whatever.  Even hip-hop.  PR programs are all like musical arrangements.  When you conduct a successful orchestral PR campaign, you not only elate audiences, but … More Conducting The PR Orchestra!

Now spread love to love’s adorable offspring, children #GivingTuesday As a writer, wordsmith and Spin Man, my mind tends to work in words strung together to make hopefully memorable, quotable points about something so deserving, worth preserving: LOVE! So here are my thoughts after a second marriage. They’re deLIGHT YEARS from any second thoughts and … More LOVE IS LOVELIER THE SECOND TIME AROUND

I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now that the hearings are over.  I’m going to be in quid pro quo withdrawal.  How am I going   to Schiff into low gear. I’m sure going to miss hearing whether there was a quid pro quo or not by our witchhunted President.   Hopefully there … More NOW THAT IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS ARE OVER, I GOT THE ‘QUID PRO QUO’ BLUES

You’ve no doubt heard of a floating crap game.  Well get ready for the first floating pool table during this year’s Winterfest Boat Parade. Thanks to The North Miami Police Athletic League (PAL) co- sponsoring Billiards by Brandt’s entry into this year’s Winterfest boat parade, you’ll be seeing one float by onboard one of the … More Aye Aye, Captain Dan, eight ball in starboard pocket on first pool table aboard Winterfest Boat Parade

TRY REDEMPTIVE PR ON THE ROCKS WITH A SPLASH OF JUSTICE To whomever speaks pejoratively about PR i.e., is this true or just PR, I would say PR can perform nobly and be almost religiously redemptive when empowered by a shot of truth on the rocks with a splash of justice. It can be the … More REDEMPTIVE PR TO THE RESCUE

Hidden Messages Behind Public Speaking Over the years I’ve coached a broad range of clients toward the goal of making their public speaking and media appearances more effective. My clients have included the CEO’s of many of the largest, most successful companies in America, which leads me to my first point. Successful entrepreneurs and leaders … More ONLY HE COULD WEAR ALL DARK CLOTHES AND STILL BE A BRIGHT LIGHT TO HIS AUDIENCE

So, we finally arrive at the Hard Rock.  It was a cramped, uncomfortable flight to Atlantic City on Spirit, but the Crown Royals kept our spirits up. Now here we are at the glitzy casino palace where I’m to meet my daughter Robin for the first time.  Jackpot! The jitney stops alongside the first of … More Here’s What I Used to Do Way Back–Drummin’

I hadn’t been back to my hometown in over 30 years, so everyone is asking me “how was Atlantic City?” This was after Rita and I had visited there one chilly late October weekend. Keep in mind, we’re from sunny, Boca Raton, Florida, so chilly for us is anything under 80 degrees and there it’s … More Here I am, an ex-Atlantic City Lifeguard, standing on the boardwalk in front of AC Beach Patrol headquarters with my new wife Rita.

                                                               NOW IN SESSION Burks murder conviction is under review after another man admits on-camera he was the shooter, not Burks who wasn’t even at … More WE’LL FIND OUT AT A HEARING TOMORROW (10/29) IF THERE’S JUSTICE IN HOUSTON FOR LAMAR BURKS

Q: What does Savannah, a Lake Charles casino and a prisoner in Houston serving 70 years for a murder new evidence is showing he didn’t commit have in common? A: Money! That’s because innocence has a price tag not everyone can afford. Take the case of Lamar Burks who has a hearing scheduled Oct. 29 … More MAY IT RING OUT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM FOR THOSE INNOCENT WHO ARE IMPRISONED LIKE LAMAR BURKS IN HOUSTON

(Click on picture to see Ticktin talk) Peter, WOW!  Just watched Debbie’s recording.  God bless your wife for capturing it for us and for posterity as our videographer was hurt on the way to the AMPFest conference at the Trump Doral Hotel when a careless driver rear-ended her truck. Yes indeed, Peter Ticktin deserves a … More What’s more satisfying than when a client you’ve been coaching on a speech hits it out of the park?

HELLO HOUSTON, TX.–Here’s Witness Subpoena List Ex Parte Lamar Burks Case #08439680101C concerning our client whom we firmly, no absolutely, incontestably believe, has spent 19 years in prison here for a murder he could not have committed as there’s hard evidence he wasn’t even in Texas when it happened. Attached please find a list of material … More TELL ME THIS MAN’S A MURDERER AND I’VE GOT A BRIDGE I CAN SELL YOU

This is one of the many questions Lamar Burks has been struggling with while stuck in a Texas prison for the past 19 years for a murder that new evidence is showing he could not possibly have committed.    An organization called the Innocence Project in Texas is beginning to wonder the same thing.  So many other pieces of evidence have emerged lately that are strongly suggesting, maybe screaming … More QUESTION: HOW COULD LAMAR BURKS HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF MURDERING SOMEONE IN TEXAS WHILE HE WAS AT HIS SISTER’S WEDDING IN LOUISIANA?

Remember the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan?  Well, in February 2019 I became the Tom Hanks character. Only I was sleepless in Boca Raton, Florida, following the death of my beautiful wife Angela who finally lost her brave 10-year battle with breast cancer.  One night my poor darling slipped … More ONCE UPON A TIME I WAS SLEEPLESS IN BOCA

This is what I tell those impatient PR clients whose expectations are way over-the-top unrealistic:  Well, you see sir, PR takes a little time before everyone knows who you are, recognizes your brand and wants to join your club.  You must give it a little more time to work as first you have to plant … More Hey, It’s Been Well Over Month Now. So Why Aren’t I Famous and Walking Down the Red Carpet Yet?

A freelance writer’s query the other day on a service we subscribe to called ProfNet got me thinking about this.  ProfNet is a product of Cision whereby journalists announce they’re working on a story and looking for experts to interview.   It’s a way for a PR firm like mine, TransMedia Group, to suggest a client … More HOW SHOULD GOOGLE PUT A LID ON POLITICAL DISCUSSION IN THE WORKPLACE SO EMPLOYEES CAN CONCENTRATE ON WORK?

Here’s a preview of my latest book “Love Boat 78,” which will be out this fall published by Mascot Books and soon available on Amazon, Kindle and in bookstores. It’s about the new ways men and women find each other today online . . . how quickly they think they fall in love or just … More LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE ONLINE PLACES

                       Yes, for South Florida, Cat 5 Hurricane Dorian was quite a Labor Day disruptor  Throughout “dangerously threatened” Palm Beach County so visibly vulnerable on the many ominous illustrations accompanying the incessant TV weather reports, Labor Day sales sank to a new low in a … More NOBODY’S TALKING ABOUT WHAT DORIAN DID TO OUR POOR SEA TURTLES

What’s wrong with switching sides if you see someone you once admired not living up to your ideals? Or not making the country you love “great again” . . . beyond just a slogan!  Didn’t Ronald Reagan begin as a Hollywood Democrat, and wasn’t Franklin D. Roosevelt one of his “true heroes?” So was Reagan a turncoat … More Would You Call ‘The Mooch’ a Turncoat, or worse, a Benedict Arnold, for Turning Against His One-Time Hero, President Trump? Hardly!

The opening scene of the 1935 Fred and Ginger movie “Top Hat” finds Fred waiting for his business manager in the quietest, snobbiest private club in London. The slightest noise he makes produces angry stares and grimaces from the tuxedoed gentlemen who insist upon stiff decorum as they peruse their newspapers and quietly sip their … More ‘PLEASE TELL THAT GAGGLE TO PIPE DOWN,’ I’D LOVE TO TELL THE BARTENDER AT MY ‘PRIVATE’ CLUB AFTER INDURING QUAKES OF LAUGHTER.