Harry Castleman never really watched as much television as you might think, he just has a good memory. When not writing books, Harry is a lawyer with the firm of Michienzie & Sawin in Boston, specializing in business, real estate, probate and intellectual property law. He has co-authored seven other popular culture books with Wally Podrazik, and also co-authored another book about applying and going to law school. He previously worked as a media producer for the Democratic National Committee, press secretary for the Florida Democratic Party, and as a media consultant to political campaigns both nationally and in Florida. Harry has also been a guest lecturer on TV history at Boston University’s College of Communication and has been interviewed on radio and television stations concerning television and music history. He graduated from Northwestern University (where Harry met Wally) and Boston University School of Law. Harry is thrilled that he twice got to share with his daughter the thrill of watching the Red Sox win the World Series. He now can’t imagine life without a wide-screen high-definition television but still relies on his daughter to program his cell phone. Harry is enjoying the second decade of the twenty-first century more than he ever expected.
Walter J. Podrazik loves making media work. As a project planner and consultant, Wally has experienced firsthand history-in-the-making handling media logistics at such high profile events as the Democratic party’s quadrennial presidential nominating conventions. As a communication analyst and writer, Wally has provided insights online, in print, on radio and television, at conferences, and in a variety of education forums. A graduate of the School of Communication at Northwestern University, Wally has taught writing, communication, and media history, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Wally has collaborated on seven other books with Harry Castleman. Separately, he has also provided historical narrative and analysis on pioneer interactive projects such as The Great Debate, a joint production of UIC and Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications, where Wally is a consulting curator. He also serves as creative resources director for Heartland Historical Research Service, specializing in researching and packaging local and personal history. Wally is happily married and enjoys watching television at his family homestead (built in 1872), occasionally imagining a pre-TV world there without Lost, Columbo, Fawlty Towers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
