Another Thing to Fall

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I put these things at the end for a reason, so be forewarned: You might read something here that will spoil part of the story for you.

This is a work of fiction. Seriously. Yes, I am married to a television producer, David Simon, one of those behind HBO’s The Wire. But The Wire, during its six years in Baltimore, had little drama behind the scenes. The actors were down-to-earth; the crew worked hard; the only real drama queen along the way was the former mayor of Baltimore. In order to write this novel, I had to create my own show – not just the concept, but its cast and crew, its behind-the-scene problems and interpersonal relationships – wholly from scratch. The only true thing in this book is that people in television work harder than most of us can ever imagine.

In that light this book is dedicated to the memory of Bob Colesberry, an executive producer on The Wire for seasons one and two. No one ever worked harder on filmmaking, or loved it more. Bob died just as season three was beginning to prep. I don’t want to pretend to a greater friendship with him than I had, but I will be forever grateful to Bob because (a) he was always up for a good meal and (b) he helped keep my significant other happy and relatively sane. (David once described their working relationship, which dates back to The Corner, as one of the most successful shotgun marriages in history.) Nina K. Noble continues in that latter capacity, bless her and all the other Nobles – David, Nick, and Jason. Ditto, Joe Chappelle. William F. Zorzi Jr. and George Pelecanos also were sources of ballast, and while I wouldn’t say that Ed Burns keeps David sane, he does help him to stay grounded and makes the work better in every way. It’s impossible to name everyone in our extended Wire family, which included virtually every department head and actor, but I do want to give a shout-out to Karen Thorson and John Chimples. Last but never least, I am indebted to Laura Schweigman, David’s assistant. “The good Laura,” as we often call her, is sweet, conscientious, and supercapable. She was kind enough to take time, in the middle of her sixteen-hour days, to explain to me the inner workings of a production office.

While I’m on the subject of family – Ethan Simon is the best son that any hardworking father ever had and the best company his stepmom has ever known; Ethan’s mom, Kayle Tucker Simon, could make a claim to being Ms. Incredible, given her flexibility in the face of unending chaos.

As for my sanity – to the extent that I have any, I credit the staff of Spoons and Todd Bauer. I also owe props to Linda Perlstein and John Miller, good neighbors and good friends. Besides, John let me use his iPhone to see just how quickly a novice could learn to navigate the device without any instruction.

Two names in this text appear here because of donations made, respectively, to Health Care for the Homeless and the Parks & People Foundation’s Ella Thompson Fund. Thank you, gentlemen, for your generosity to two causes that mean so much to my household. You know who you are.

Finally, partial spoiler here: Zervitz v. Hollywood Pictures was a real lawsuit and is presented here in a factual light, based on my own reporting during my years at the Sun. I never wrote about the case, but I read the entire court file and interviewed several of the principals. Any errors – whether they involve the production of a television show, legal issues, the tenancy rate or security systems at Tide Point, or even the regular presence of a Kobe beef hamburger on the menu at Nasu Blanca – are my own, the consequence of oversight, manipulation, or downright wishful thinking.