Maguire Online – the web site of James “Jamie” Maguire

Welcome to my web site, and thanks for stopping by. I’m a journalist and author, so I spend my days hunched over my computer, typing sporadically (or spasmodically), and interviewing people, all the while telling myself to…stop daydreaming and get back to work.

Two projects I’m particularly proud of are a biography of Ed Sullivan (published by Billboard Books) and an inside-the-culture look at the National Spelling Bee (published by Rodale).

For the Sullivan book I interviewed scores of performers, including vaudevillians like Paul Winchell, rock musicians like The Doors’ Ray Manzarek, and comics like Joan Rivers and George Carlin. Aided by access to Sullivan’s personal papers and cooperation from his family, I wrote the book as a cultural narrative of America in the mid century.

For my book about the National Spelling Bee I traveled all over the country, profiling five young spellers (11 to 13 years old) as they prepared for the annual Bee in Washington, D.C. I wrote about the hopes and fears of these bright talents, as well as the odd (but wonderful) niche culture of the Bee. The book’s high point is the big spell-off in the nation’s capitol, as these virtuosic orthographers go toe-to-toe before a huge television audience — and their nerves are stretched taut.

I’m the managing editor of both Datamation, a venerable technology publication that has covered corporate tech since 1957, and eSecurity Planet, which covers the latest in enterprise security. Both publications are owned by Jupitermedia.

Additionally, I write about any number of topics. For four years I was a columnist and feature writer for E-Commerce Guide, the Internet’s premier source for e-business news and analysis. I’ve frequently written about business, including a stint as a consultant for DoubleClick, for which I wrote studies about Microsoft and the Los Angeles Times. I was a reporter for the NewsFactor Network, a business-technology wire service.

For years I edited and wrote all the content for About.com’s Top 40 site, covering the highly commercial exploits of pop stars like Eminem and Green Day and tabloid queen Ms. Britney Spears. I was also a music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I’ve written (or co-written) two books about technology, TechTV’s Secrets of the Digital Studio and SAM’s Teach Yourself E-Music. (In a previous career I was an audio engineer, mixing sound for radio and television, hence the technology emphasis.) Here are two pieces I penned for Wired, one an investigative piece detailing the record labels’ battle with P2P networks, the other a humorous piece about the John Lennon bot.

I’ve also written and performed two one-man shows, Vibrating White Light and Making Candy. Both pieces are serio-comic explorations of identity and spirituality, whatever that means.

I live in Blacksburg, Virginia with my wife, the brilliant and loving Corinne Noirot, who’s a visiting assistant professor of French at Virginia Tech University. She is clearly my better half.

Thanks for visiting – and come back anytime!

James Maguire