Author Archive for Jim
James Moore is a senior strategic communications consultant, a best-selling author, and and Emmy-winning TV correspondent. His consulting practice specializes in crisis communications and public relations for businesses.
On the Loose (updated)
There is not language that I know to describe what it feels like to ride a motorcycle through a countryside you have never seen and every sight is new. The world feels specially made and customized for your personal enjoyment. In King’s Park, up above Perth, you look down across the broad Swann [...]
West with the Sun
I dreamed of Australia when I was a boy in Michigan. In one of my elementary classes, we had a book that had color pictures of kangaroos and the sun on the Outback as if it were a light that had no off switch. When we were freezing in the Lower Peninsula, and as the [...]
The Blessings and Burden of America
(Author’s note – the piece below was commissioned by The Sunday Independent of London. The piece was the leading article on the section front of the paper’s front page this Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010.)
“I just want to say this. I want to say it gently but I want to say it firmly: There is a [...]
The Great Australian Rideabout
“In youth we learn, in age we understand.” – Marie Van Ebner Eschenbach
In my teens, my younger brother bought a motorcycle. The bike was nothing remarkable. I recall a Kawasaki 250 with on outsized tank, gray with some red trim. Lord, though, it felt fast after I finally learned to ride. Tim let me take [...]
Baseball is for Boys
“Baseball was a game made for kids, and only grown-ups screw it up.” – Bob Lemon
The news that Mark McGwire has admitted taking steroids has the shock value of the earth continuing to spin on its axis. The fact that he confirmed what everyone already knew is nothing more than an act of expediency so [...]
To An Athlete Screwing Up Young
“In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to hide a diabolical cunning.” – A. E. Housman
There is a terminal velocity for any body falling from a great height. The amount of time spent at that speed does not really matter in terms of damage upon impact. Irreparable harm [...]
My Friend Gary: A Christmas Story
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
He was, by his own assessment, a hippie. Gary had graduated with an advanced degree from Harvard and got on his motorcycle, which he also conceded, was not the best use [...]
The Rushing Minutes
“Well, you know we’re probably too old for this
Maybe the rest of the world is too young
We drive five hundred miles to get loose and get wild
And stay up ‘till the last song is done.”
– Gary P. Nunn, Terlingua Sky
There is a time in Texas when the weight of the sun lifts slightly and [...]
I Read the News Today, Oh Boy
When I heard the announcement about Texas Tribune coming along to add strength to government and political coverage in our state, I was deep into the details of a similar endeavor. There is one critical difference, however: our new journalism business is designed to make money. In fact, just before John Thornton of Austin Ventures [...]
Why We Worry about Vaccines
Even as doctors try to reassure the public, and TV news anchors get their swine flu shots on the morning news, there remains a great unease about vaccinations in the US. People hesitant to take the needle are marginalized as anti-vaccine nuts, regardless of the many justifiable reasons to distrust giant pharmaceutical producers and government [...]