Rainy Nights in Bangkok: interview with Timothy Hallinan

Introduction by Shadoe Stevens

Timothy Hallinan is simply the smartest, most creative person I know and the most inspiring. When we met, we became instant friends. Tim has been one of my best friends, all my adult life.

I met Tim, in 1970. I came to Los Angeles to work KHJ-AM and Tim was doing station promotion. He came up with some of the most innovative, creative campaigns Bill Drake and RKO General, which owned KHJ-AM, delivered. We met when Tim took some head shots, of me, for station promotions.

A year or two later, we were neighbours in Topanga Canyon. I was creating the “World Famous” KROQ-FM and Tim had formed Stone Hallinan Consulting. Stone Hallinan was an international public relations (PR) firm, with offices in LA, New York City and London, England.

Despite his success in PR, all Tim wanted to do was to write. He wrote and wrote. Every novel he’s written has received critical acclaim.

About his new novel, “Breathing Water,” Maddy van Hertbruggen writes, it’s “truly an excellent book – I don’t know how Hallinan can get any better – he set the bar … high for himself! Hallinan sprinkles perfectly wrought phrases throughout the narrative, like gems falling on to the pages, never failing to delight. In some ways, it’s harder to write a review for a book you love …. The tendency is to want to put out all sorts of superlatives, to gush with adjectives. Please indulge me for a moment: the book is extraordinary, magnificent, exceptional, heart shaking, heart breaking, brilliant. As I read this book, I laughed, I cried, I gasped, but I never … yawned. “Breathing Water” is a great book. Period” (from ReviewingTheEvidence.com, August 2009).

“Breathing Water” is the latest book in the Bangkok Series. This may be the only thriller series, in the world, in which the hero is a family. The family includes Poke Rafferty, an American writer living in Bangkok; his wife, Rose, a former bar worker, and Miaow, the ten-year-old street child they adopted.

At the core of these books by Tim Hallinan, there’s the love and tenderness of a family trying to stay together, while separated by culture, language, religion and, often, hair-raising events born out of real-life. Tim writes multilayered stories. His stories are rich, with colours, engaging, unforgettable characters and love. The love is of the family, of life and of the Thai people.

His mysteries are compelling and unpredictable. A novel by Tim is hard to put down. As thrillers, his books are riveting. At the same time, Tim writes with incredible wit and unexpected, laugh-out-loud humour.

I recommend “Breathing Water.” After reading it, I’m sure you’ll rush out to pick up the other novels in Bangkok Series. I’m certain you’ll find them so rewarding, you’ll forage used books stores for the six novels in his Simeon Grist Series, too.

There’s no one like Tim Hallinan. He’s one of the finest writers, of our time, and among the best storytellers. Click here to read an exclusive interview, with Tim Hallinan, and find out why.

Screenwriter Neal Gumpel: free falling and almost famous

Introduction

by dr george pollard

A hundred years ago, Albert Einstein didn’t know physicists believed E could not equal mc-squared. He wrote about the effects of E equaling mc-squared and changed the world. Einstein didn’t know he was supposedly wrong.

Neal Gumpel, the screenwriter, is similar. He’s a usual person around whom unusual events occur. “Many of the fictional screenplays he writes,” says Brian Linse, of Linsefilms, “happened to him. No one believes his life is the fiction he writes.”

During high school, Neal worked as a house painter. He developed a knack for high-end kitchen finishing work. As he painted, in Rye and Greenwich, he talked with his clients.

The talk was mostly about preparing food. Customers asked Neal to cater, and he did. Two years later, he went from house painter to caterer, with no training in either.

When Neal met his first wife, she was a bible student. He took up bible study to be with her. After they married, Neal became a minister, licenced by the State of New York.

When his marriage ended, Neal worked at Dean and Deluca, a trendy, high-end café, in New York City. Two years later, he opened a bistro in Kona, on Hawaii, called “A Piece of the Apple.” Two years later, Neal and second wife, Helen Shelby, the super model, returned to New York City, where he worked at the high-end Citarella Fish Market.

Two years later, Neal and Helen wanted to sublet their New York City apartment. Jim Sheridan, the film writer and producer, came to view, with his daughter. As daughter, Helen and Neal toured the building, Sheridan noticed, on the coffee table, a story Neal wrote. He read it, while waiting.

Ten days later, Gumpel was the sensation of the Toronto Film Festival. Sheridan was saying, “Neal is my new writing partner.” Sheridan said his next project, which Gumpel wrote, was “Lucky Men.” Then Sheridan took Neal to Hollywood.

Mel Gibson, the actor, owns Con Artists. “When Neal first came to Hollywood,” says Brian Linse, “Sheridan took him to Con Artist for a meet and greet. Last person Neal meets is Gibson. They talk for a long while; Neal always has a steady stream of enticing ideas. When leaving, Neal shakes hands, with Gibson, and says, ‘Thank you, Mr. Costner.’”

This is Neal Gumpel. He writes the best screenplays, but knows little about Hollywood. “He knows almost no one in Hollywood,” says Linse. “This is good.”

“Neal pitched an idea to Brian Cooper, at DreamWorks,” says AJ Benza. “Cooper loved it. Neal got a six-figure development deal to write the script. The story came directly from the life of Neal Gumpel.”

“He’s a natural screenwriter, not studied,” says Brian Linse. “Neal doesn’t know he can’t write a scene this way or that. He decides what he needs. Then he does it.” Neal is two steps forward for Hollywood.

Neal Gumpel has an extraordinary life story. He tells it well. Click here to read his first in-depth interview, now, to know why his basic instincts prevail.

Keeping radio alive: Big Apple Air Checks

Introduction
Streeter Click

“Matt Seinberg has always been a pain in the butt,” says Allen Beebe, of WMJY-FM, in Biloxi, Mississippi, “but thank gawd for him.”

“Air checks aren’t a business, for Matt,” says Gnarly Charlie, of WFLC-FM, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Air checks are his passion.”

There’s a practical side to his passion, says Beebe. “In Hurricane Katrina, I lost all the air checks I made during my 30-year career. Matt sent me copies, of my work, that he collected.”

“Matt’s dedicated to performing the essential, often thankless, task, of preserving radio, for generations to come,” says radio legend, Dick Summer. “If it weren’t for Matt Seinberg, the next generation wouldn’t have a clue about how radio excited the last.

“Radio has changed, so much, in the last decade,” says Summer, “that those, of us, members of the ‘Louie-Louie Generation,’ wouldn’t recognize it, if we still listened. That’s okay. Change is how an ‘art form’ survives, and radio is art.

“Radio, today, wouldn’t nab my interest, as it did, all those years ago. I wouldn’t consider devoting a career to it, today. The creative autonomy, I enjoyed, is impossible, for now.

“Rummaging through the dust in the back of my closest,” says Dick Summer, “I came across a pile of air checks. These ‘tapes’ go back to the 1960s and 1970s. The stations include WBZ-AM, Boston; WNBC-AM, WNEW-FM and WYNY-FM, all in New York City.

“My granddaughters, Cassie and Jacqui, were visiting. As both are taking media classes, in college, I played the air checks for them. They were surprised. They heard nothing like those shows, on radio, today, and their teachers mentioned nothing of such entertainment.

“These air checks are a small, but important, part of history and radio history, in particular. These air checks are oral history. All air checks are a vital part of who we are and were, and how we got here.

“There are books called, ‘The History of Radio.’ Printed words can’t capture radio, which is about sounds that excite the mind and body. The sounds are different, now, less exciting, perhaps, than during the days and nights, of the Louie-Louie Generation.

“I’m not knocking radio. It’s as different, today, as radio, of the 1950s and 1960s, was from soap opera radio, of the 1940s. Times change, so do art forms.

“Radio hiccups and new formats appear. Some listeners like what they hear, others don’t. Everyone calls it progress, but the inflection, on “progress,” varies.

“You can readily buy copies, of soap opera radio, now called, Old-Time Radio. What’s hard to find,” says Summer, “in quality or quantity, is radio from the Louie-Louie Generation. Big Apple Air Checks is one of the few places, other than the dusty piles in my closest, where you can find Louie-Louie Generation radio, aplenty.”

You can’t realize the future until you recognize the past. Radio, today, is bland, barren and boring because any sense of what was and what may be has vanished. Matt Seinberg has a great ear for an era of exciting, creative radio, as you will read. Click here to read the Matt Seinberg Interview.

The Pope of Hollywood and Vine

Introduction
dr george pollard

“AJ and I are at Ago,” says Neal Gumpel. “Ago is a Hollywood restaurant owned by Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer. He knows AJ, well, and invites us to his table.

“Quentin Tarantino is at the table, too. He has a huge script, sitting where his dinner plate goes. Tarantino wants Weinstein to make a movie, from this script.

“After listening to the back and forth about the lengthy script, AJ says to Harvey, ‘Why not make two movies?’ Whence came two volumes of ‘Kill Bill.’

Benza wrote two gossip columns, “Hot Copy” and “Downtown,” for the New York “Daily News.” The columns opened doors. “The phone rings at 4 am,” says Benza. “It’s Mickey Rourke asking me for a favour. Another time, Jack Nicholson yells, from the other side of a packed room, ‘Come over Sunday, I’m barbequing.’ I was 27. It was nirvana.”

“His New York fame,” says an A-list Hollywood actor who prefers we not use his name, “lead some people to believe AJ Benza is a rough, tough bad boy. It’s smoke and mirrors. Agencies lose money, today, because some agents, men, are honestly afraid of him.”

Neal Gumpel writes movies with Benza. “Let me give you a few examples of the rough and tough AJ Benza,” he says. “AJ finds dew-covered grass morbid and creepy; he won’t walk on it. He believes in ghosts and is afraid of antique furniture. He’s also the worst liar in the world.”

“AJ is all show business,” says Leroy Jones, a former literary agent. “Benza refined an image. The show business people who cause me to wonder are those who believe the image. Their job is to ply illusion and delusion, yet, they’re wary of an obvious put on. These people may have problems, not AJ.”

In Hollywood, hosting “Mysteries and Scandals” was the big break for Benza. “His no bull, New York attitude made ‘Mysteries and Scandals’ a success,” says John Rieber, head of programming at G4 media.

“AJ can walk into a room and befriend anyone,” says Rieber. “He talks honestly. This is a rare talent.”

Today, Benza hosts “High Stakes Poker,” with Gabe Kaplan, the comedian, actor and poker champion. “It’s the highest rated show on the Game Show Network,” says Kelly Goode, head of programming for the network. Benza, who claims to know nothing about poker, says, “High Stakes Poker” is “heroin for poker players.”

Andrew Lear co-manages Benza. “One night,” he says, “we’re at “Ago.” The restaurant teems with A-list celebrities. Who’s holding court, but AJ? Sitting next to him is Sharon Stone. Celebrities are leaning in to shake his hand. Bill Maher hovers. Everyone knows AJ and that his hard-shell is a work. He has the warmest heart in Hollywood, and the most talent.”

Click here to read this rare, exclusive conversation, with AJ Benza. Learn about his life, talent, insight, intelligence and down-to-earth philosophy. AJ will change you, for the good.

Howard Lapides: media maven

Streeter Click

Howard Lapides is a storyteller. “I helped him discover his missed calling,” says business partner, Bill Siddons. “He should have been a raconteur.”

“I used to think he only talked,” e-mails Leroy Jones about Lapides. “Now, I see that he tells stories. His stories are lessons, with morals. He dispenses 21st century lore, sometimes cynical, always honest, never off mark. To restate Beat poet, Jack Kerouac, ‘Go read, of Howard, now and learn.’”

Lapides is about media. His favourite adage is the media are 99% business and 1% show. That folksy wisdom is his recipe, his talk and walk, for success.

“If you don’t exist to the middle world,” he told Dr Drew Pinsky, “among managers, agents and publicists, you won’t succeed.” Producers, atop the media food chain, rely on middle world farmers. Talent creates, best, when free ranging.

“Creative fulfilment takes many forms,” says Lapides. “Radio is one. Promoting rock and pop concerts is another. Helping talented women and men build careers is a third.” He knows, having done all three, with élan and much success.

Centuries ago, Lao-tzu said, “Those who justify themselves do not convince.” Shakespeare thought she “Doth protest too much.” Baseball great, Yogi Berra claimed, “If you done it, it ain’t bragging.” Lapides does it, won’t talk past the sale or justify.

This is rare. “Lapides works a phony town and industry,” says David D’Arcangelo. “Yet, he remains genuine, with bona fides; dignity and integrity intact.”

Lapides sees himself as “a disc jockey from Buffalo, New York.” It’s true, of course. Still, this self-image grossly downplays his protean ability.

“Howard knows radio,” says Bob Wood. Wood hired Lapides to host the Buffalo “Bills” post-game show. You’re unlikely to find anyone who knows radio as well as him.

“To this day,” says concert promoter, Harold Levin, of Bass Clef, “Howard is the brightest person in show business. He’s imaginative and successful. Howard is among the best managers and promoters, of all time.”

“If there was no Howard Lapides,” says Pinsky, “there’d be no Dr Drew, period; end of story. He told me what to do. Often, he told me how to do it. I listened, learned and benefited.”

Most telling is the opinion of rivals. A top agent, who negotiated anonymity for his comments, knows Lapides, well, often working with him. Though his words abused, his style praised. The agent always referred to “Howard,” never that so-and-so. When he spoke the word, “Howard,” his tone softened, his volume dropped, if so slightly. In midsentence, he clearly paused before saying the name. What’s unsaid is most revealing. The agent can’t help respect and admire Lapides.

Lapides likes to work live, over lunch, at The Palm. Supposedly, the art of conversation is dead. Monday to Friday, at The Palm, over lunch, Lapides confirms the art of conversation is alive and thriving, in Los Angeles.

In this rare interview, Howard Lapides is at the top of his game. He tells stories, offers insights and gives advice. Most of all, he entertains.

Click here to read the complete interview, with talent manager, Howard Lapides, of Lapides/Lear, Lost Angeles.

It’s all in the name

dr george pollard

“From the moment I heard Shadoe Stevens, on WRKO-AM, in Boston,” says Howard Lapides, “I knew he was one of the few radio people I’d always idolize. That was 40 years ago and my opinion hasn’t changed.

“I was student, at Emerson College,” says Lapides. Evenings, I produced Steve Fredericks, on WMEX-AM. Weekends, I worked area stations, as the ‘Frogman.’

“Instantly, I knew Stevens was the man. What I didn’t know was the name, Shadoe Stevens, was inflicted on him. He had been Jefferson Kaye, for years, and didn’t like the new name. Most important, he made ‘Shadoe Stevens’ a widely-known success.

“Go out on the street. Randomly ask 100 people, “Who is Shadoe Stevens?” Most will know. They might remember his radio work, ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘Traxx,’ ‘Dave’s World,’ ‘Loose Cannon,” ‘Fred Rated’ or maybe “The Big Galoot.” Everyone knows something about Stevens.”

“Shadoe follows,” says John Rook, “in the footsteps of such greats as ‘The Real’ Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Larry ‘Superjock’ Lujack and Rick Dees.” Those are big steps to fill, but Sevens does it, easily. “Still,” says Rook, “he needs to learn how to spell!”

“For too many,” says Rook, “radio fame is a brief blink of the cosmic eye. Success, for Stevens, hasn’t peaked. He reaches new heights, daily, it seems. Don’t hold your breath, waiting for the day he can’t top yesterday. Heaven, hell and purgatory supposedly have top production studios and, since Dante left, new ideas are few. I predict Shadoe lifts the afterlife to new, creative heights.”

“Stevens made it on television,” says Lapides. “Shadoe succeed on game shows, sitcoms and in movies. He was one of us, the women and men of radio, showing the big shots we could do it all, and do it all well.

“KROQ-FM is a legend,” says Lapides. “Given no money, Stevens created this powerhouse station on his endless flow of ‘over the top ideas,’ a unique ability for radio production, unparalleled optimism, hard work and determination. How many, in any business, legitimately claim these characteristics? Stevens created KROQ-FM, twice. How few created such success, once, let alone twice.

“This,” says Lapides, “is the heart and mind of Shadoe Stevens: if I can think it, I can find a way to make it happen.”

His success comes of tenacity. “Stevens is a survivor,” says Don Barrett, “in his personal and work lives. Through a steady stream of creative output,” says Barrett, “Shadoe Stevens continues to share his journey with us.”

Shadoe Stevens is a Renaissance Person. He prospers in many areas and in many ways. He’s a Leonardo, working the digital age, with high-tech sound and radiant light.

Daniel Bornstein said, “A celebrity is someone known only for whom she or he is, not for what he or she does.”*** Stevens is a celebrity, but KROQ-FM and the AOR radio format, to pick only two examples, make Stevens most notable for what he does. What he does arises from a nimble mind, grit and no fear of dogged hard work.

Shadoe Stevens has a first-class character, a first-class mind and his work product is first class. He’s a first-class role model. Click here ’cause you need to know about Shadoe Stevens.

The Compleat John Rook

by Streeter Click

“He’s too tall, too skinny and jogs too much,” says Dick Summer, of John Rook. The similes are apt. Dick’s a great summer upper and slick home run hitter.

Rook is a towering figure in radio. In his early 20s, John programmed number one stations in Top 10 markets, for ABC Radio. In five years, Rook lifted old-line KQV-AM, in Pittsburgh, to the top of the market; the equal, of KDKA-AM, the market leader for 35 years. In his 30s, only partisan politics kept him from a seat on the Federal Communications Commission. Later, he owned a radio station and battled Clear Channel.

His mind moves fast and knows no rust. When John changed stations, in Chicago, his new station beat his old station, soundly. “John Rook,” reported Billboard Magazine, “pulled off a miracle.” After 22 days, consulting WCFL-AM, “Rook beat his former employer, WLS-AM, the dominant Top 40 station in the market.”

Among visionaries, Rook leads, with ease and élan. At a time when many women and men see their final credits rolling, John leans into the wind. He’s after the next big idea. Today’s not enough. Only thinking about the day after tomorrow suffices.

Rook touts WiFi radio. “Thousands, of radio stations, at no cost, even from your car radio,” he says, “and by 2009.” In a breath, he’s on to MaxFi radio.

During his early years, Rook was a journalist and a steam locomotive grease monkey. He was an actor, with movie and television credits, and a shipping clerk for  Sears-Roebuck and Liberty records. No moss gathers under his feet.

“John Rook,” said Jack Thayer, “is one of a small number of programmers, with a natural ability to know what listeners want before they know it for themselves.” Thayer was first to hire Don Imus for New York City radio.  Jack knew good radio, its on- and off-air talent, well.

“SuperJock,” Larry Lujack, says, “Rook is the greatest program director of our time or any time.”  ABC Radio executive, Bob Henabery, says, “Rook understood the importance of doing everything right. He [is] a masterful Top 40 programmer.” “[His] talent,” says, “Ken Palmer, general manager, of KIMN-AM, “caused me to get him hired out of the market.”

The Hit Parade Hall of Fame is the latest Rook project. With son, Jason, Rook honors all recording artists. Anyone who had a Top 10 record, in any era, regardless of type of music, is eligible for the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Among the first Hall inductees, in 2007, were Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis and Neil Diamond. So far, the list of nominees, for 2008, includes The Doors, Dusty Springfield and The Kingston Trio. Each visitor, to the Hit Parade Hall of Fame, gets to vote once for each nominee.

It’s hard describing John Rook, without seeming hyperbolic. Many think his successes came easily.  For the lesser among us, luck justifies smarts.

Keen minds flourish, creating novel ideas. Intellect and want thrive. All needed for success seem in force, but failure rules. Often absent is the ability, the courage, to take definite action. Through action, keen minds, novel ideas, intellect and ambition cause success.

The Rookism is this: to succeed, think and act. One or the other won’t work alone. A simple aphorism, but seldom followed. Click here to read the complete interview, with John Rook

Mary Lyon: up with liberalism

by Pamela Cuellar

Cleaver, versatile and a can-do woman, that’s Mary Lyon. She’s a pillar, of the Los Angeles community. She’s a beacon on the recycling front. She reared two progressive, involved and intelligent children. She broke down barriers for women in Los Angeles radio. Her views on politics, parenting and the Roman Catholic Church reveal remarkable insight and passion.

Mary acts on her beliefs. Action is her style, even if it is not the easiest path. Her family lives in a home, with a roof made of recycled tires. Her tactic for promoting “green” is creating market demand. Her efforts already show signs of success. Mary wants sunny California to be the “Solar Energy Capital of the World.”

After her first child, Mary experienced new and life-altering challenges. She noticed many of the women around her had the same worries about parenting mysteries as she did. Mary soon became the “Answer Mom,” eventually reaching out to these women in a best-selling book, “The Frazzled Women’s Guild to Practical Motherhood.” In the book, Mary offers solutions and tips to the common challenges women face as they navigate parenthood.

Being the only Catholic in her family gives Mary an interesting perspective on the workings of the Church. Of special concern, to her, is the flagrant blindness, of the Church to the role of women. “The talents, intelligence, energy and gifts, of the women, go unused,” she says.

Of her successes, Mary is most proud of her children. She took a firm stand, early: no subject was off limit or taboo in her home. Her children got the facts, on every subject. They heard about sides, of an issue, with which Mary did not agree. Mary and her husband, Bruce, allowed their children to make up their own minds. Mary openly discussed controversial subjects. She took time to explain ideas her children picked up from watching television or listening to radio. She wanted them to know the truth, all of it.

The USA, Mary says, changed drastically after 11 September 2001. America grew great, she says, on the idea there should be rights for everyone; opposing views weren’t wrong. Americans had to express and practice their beliefs, as long as they fell under the rule of law. Since 911, the mind-set of the USA has changed. The attitude is aggressive, intolerant and harsh. Opposing views, if not squashed, find little support. Bin Laden got “lucky,” knocking down the Twin Towers, she says, and America overreacted.

There are not enough words to express the promise and hope that Mary Lyon exudes. She’s interesting, interested and passionate. Mary Lyon lives life as an example. She confirms one person can make a difference. Click here to read the full interview.

The Kingston Trio: 50 years on top

by Christine Grail

The Kingston Trio lives! A half-century after their first hit, “Tom Dooley,” the fan base remains massive, strong and growing. Although the players are different, now, the songs and the spirit remain the same.

The Kingston Trio (above, 1958 and 2008) lifted obscure folk music to the top of the charts. Some of their hits included “A Worried Man”; “Greenback Dollar” and “MTA”— a song about a man stuck on the Boston subway. By 1960, the Kingston Trio was the number one vocal group in the world. David Hajdu, in “Positively 4^th Street,” described the Kingston Trio as a neatly groomed, “WASPy-looking” group of athletic young men. “Their music was traditional,” wrote Hajdu, but played in a robust … polished style.”

The group, a blend of musical styles, witty lyrics and on-stage fun, were hard to resist. The Kingston Trio sold millions of records, each one topping the Billboard “Hot 100” chart. The group was a compelling version of the American Dream. Few, it seems, knowingly heard the messages imbedded in the fun lyrics.

In 1967, the Kingston Trio split, a victim of “The British Invasion” and internal disputes. In 1973, founding members, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds, reformed the group, adding Bill Zorn on guitar. Three years later, George Grove replaced Zorn.

As a boy, the group inspired Grove. The unique sound and clever lyrics hooked him. He decided to become a member of the band, not just a fan. “I had Kingston Trio mania,” says Grove. His life ambition, to be a musician, also meant joining the Kingston Trio.

Grove graduated from Wake Forest University, joined the Army and played in the Army Band. In early 1970s, he moved to Nashville to hone his skills. He worked as a studio musician and as a touring sideman. “I learned a lot,” says Grove, “from Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Roy Acuff, among others.

For the last 32 years, the Kingston Trio changed members, resolved feuds and gave about 10,000 shows. The success of their music and style remains, after 50 years. At the least, their lasting success confirms style and wit add up to fun.

Grove enjoys every moment. “I’ve no plans to retire,” he says. His youthful enthusiasm, for the Kingston Trio, hasn’t waned. “Despite the grueling travel schedule,” says Grove, “I’m not fed up. Besides there are new songs on the page and shows booked through 2010. It’s all fun.” Yet, he says, “Amid the travel and shows, I find time to write and record my own material.” He’s had several successful solo albums. “There’s so much to do,” says Grove. “There’s no time to think about retiring.”

George Grove is living evidence that dreams do come true. In this interview, he offers candid insight into the Kingston Trio, explaining how they managed to remain popular for more than 50 years. He also talks about how he made his own dream come true. Click here to read the full interview.

The Scurge of CFS and ME: an interview with Dr. Byron Hyde

Introduction
by Stacey Chillemi

A puzzling ailment afflicts millions of women and men. Patients complain of extreme tiredness or fatigue. “I’m always exhausted, no matter how much sleep I get,” they say.

Fatigue seems the main symptom. Yet, patients may report problems sleeping. “I wake up tired, even though I slept well,” they say. Patients may have difficulty thinking clearly, concentrating or remembering. They complain of frequent headaches, muscle and joint pain, a severe sore throat or tenderness in the neck or armpits. These symptoms may flare up after limited mental or physical effort.

Often unable to detect a known illness, doctors diagnose Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The diagnosis is mostly descriptive. Treatment is often a rebuke, “Pull up your socks and get back to work or school” or antidepressant medication.

As the pace of life gains speed, more doctors diagnose CFS. Social classes or ethnicity offer no shelter against the symptoms or diagnosis of CFS. Women are twice as likely as men to report CFS symptoms. Children are as likely as the elderly receive the CFS diagnosis.

The CFS diagnosis applies to about 4 million Americans. The number of such diagnoses goes up every year. One-in-four of those diagnosed, with CFS, can’t work or on disability. More and more, disability insurance companies find ways not to pay those diagnosed with CFS.

Byron M. Hyde, M. D., is Director of the Nightingale Research Foundation. He’s a leading authority on CFS and related illnesses. In this interview, Dr. Hyde talks about the essence of the ailment and problems of diagnosis. He offers new insight about the ailment and the diagnosis.

As Dr. Hyde notes, a psychiatric disorder haunts up to half of the women and men diagnosed as CFS. It’s not surprising many victims don’t seek medical advice; they want to avoid the baggage of mental illness. The misdiagnosis also leads to the wrong treatment.

Some patients present as CFS, but have serious, treatable illnesses. These illnesses include diabetes, thyroid disease or substance abuse. Undiagnosed, the patient gets worse when they could get better.

Looking behind the façade, of CFS, notes Dr. Hyde, calls for digging. All patients need a full work up before a doctor offers a valid prognosis. Thorough research is essential.

A former geophysicist, Dr. Hyde is a published poet. In his premedical days, his instinct for decisive action saved the lives of actors, Yoko Tani and Anthony Quinn. For more than 40 years, he’s practiced a learned form of common sense medicine. The Nightingale Foundation, which he founded, in 1988, provides hope, compassion and cures to new patients, every day.

If you’re living under a diagnosis of CFS, what Dr. Hyde says is what you need to know. Click here to read the complete interview, with Dr. Byron Hyde.