A special guest showed up with a special surprise when I delivered a recent talk to Historic Albuquerque about Carl Magee, the subject of my Citizen Carl book. The guest was Vishu Magee, Carl Magee’s grandson, and his surprise was the tiny Colt .25 used to shoot Judge David Leahy and John Lassetter 100 years… Continue reading Carl Magee’s gun and grandson impress
Tag: Jack McElroy
Parking meter podcast features Citizen Carl
The How Curious podcast just dropped an episode about the origins of the parking meter, and Carl Magee, naturally, was the star. The podcast is associated with KGOU, the public radio station at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The show highlights the “legends, rumors, tall tales and other curiosities” of the Sooner State. Magee… Continue reading Parking meter podcast features Citizen Carl
Western Writers Assn honors Citizen Carl
The Western Writers Association named Citizen Carl a finalist in the Best Biography category of its 2025 Spur Award competition. I couldn’t be more thrilled. My old Albuquerque Tribune pal Ollie Reed Jr. turned me on to the group and suggested I enter the competition. Sadly, he died in November. I wish I could share… Continue reading Western Writers Assn honors Citizen Carl
Reflecting on Carl Magee’s libel trial in new era of press attacks
The libel trial of editor Carl Magee serves as a reminder of the threats journalists faced from politicians before the media were protected by the New York Times vs Sullivan decision and other court rulings. With new attacks on journalism these days, I thought I’d post the chapter about that trial from my biography of… Continue reading Reflecting on Carl Magee’s libel trial in new era of press attacks
Friends of N.M. History post Carl Magee lecture
The New Mexico Friends of History invited me to tell the story of Carl Magee for its December First Wednesday virtual lecture. The presentation is now available on YouTube. Check it out, or check out the many other New Mexico history lectures in the Friends archive. Many thanks to Kathleen Daggett of the Friends of… Continue reading Friends of N.M. History post Carl Magee lecture
RIP, Ollie Reed Jr.
When I arrived at work for the first time at The Albuquerque Tribune — on Jan. 4, 1977 — I was assigned to cover the Bernalillo County government beat and was seated beside the City Hall reporter, a young man named Ollie Reed Jr. I had no idea how lucky I was. Ollie turned out… Continue reading RIP, Ollie Reed Jr.
Podcast features Citizen Carl
Write On! Four Corners just dropped its latest podcast: an interview with me about Citizen Carl. The show is hosted by DelSheree Gladden, author of several books herself. Write On! Four Corners originates at KSJE-FM, a public radio station based at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M., and it highlights books and authors from the… Continue reading Podcast features Citizen Carl
I’m the other Jack McElroy
The Cibola Citizen in Grants, N.M., just published a lovely review of Citizen Carl. Unfortunately, a short bio sidebar conflated my background with that of another author named Jack McElroy. The confusion was inevitable. One Jack McElroy is an entrepreneur, businessman, publisher and author of 6 books, most of them dealing with the Bible. He… Continue reading I’m the other Jack McElroy
A journey from journalism
Greetings. Welcome to my blog. I started it to talk about the work I’ve been doing since retiring as a newspaper editor. Mostly I’ve been researching and writing about history. My most recent project is titled Citizen Carl: The editor who cracked Teapot Dome, shot a judge and invented the parking meter. I was inspired… Continue reading A journey from journalism
Jack McElroy Books 