For the past year and a half I’ve been writing a book about the biggest E. coli outbreak in U.S. history. It started in Seattle in 1993 and ended up spreading through most Western states. Jack in the Box restaurants was implicated as the source. Writing this story has changed my life, particularly when it comes to the way I eat. And I’m not just talking about beef.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I wrote WITHOUT RESERVATION, a book that had two startling revelations – the tribe in charge of the largest casino in the world is illegitimate and its casino sits on land that was not intended to be sovereign Indian territory. A close inspection of the Congressional records clearly shows that lawmakers were duped on genealogy and geography before passing the federal law that created the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in southeastern Connecticut. That was big news when the book came out. Today, however, the news is that this tribe and its casino are in serious decline. My piece in today’s Hartford Courant begins to tell the next chapter in this saga. http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-op-benedict-foxwoods-tribe-0919-20100919,0,1984329.story
I will be in Connecticut this week to deliver speeches on this topic in Stamford on Monday night and in West Hartford on Tuesday morning. Both events are sponsored by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy. You can learn more about these events at www.jeffbenedict.com
Over the summer I couldn't help noting the rash of arrest reports involving pro and college athletes. It seemed like there was one every day. So I decided to take a closer look. With the help of my trusty research assistant Jeff Gasser, I spent the past month looking up publicly recorded cases of athletes charged with serious crimes. My new story on SI.com reveals what I found. Here's a hint --- I was wrong about an athlete being arrested every other day for a serious crime. It's actually one every other day. And I'm only talking about pro and college football and basketball players.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jeff_benedict/09/08/athletes.crime/index.html
Jeff Benedict is a best selling author of 14 books and a television and film producer. His latest book — QB: My Life Behind the Spiral (written with Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young) was a New York Times bestseller. He is currently writing the biography of Tiger Woods. He is a producer on the forthcoming motion picture “Little Pink House,” starring Oscar-nominated Catherine Keener with music by David Crosby. To book him for a speech or private event, contact Ellis Trevor at ellis@chartwellspeakers.com
