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landing a position at the paper at age 24 when an opening for an assistant critic came up in the paper's entertainment department. His audition review, A GATHERING OF EAGLES with Rock Hudson, landed him the job. The paper's executive editor, Bill German, recalled that John's review "was the only one that didn't bore me." Paine
Knickerbocker became his mentor at the paper; Judy Stone was his editor for film reviews.
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Wasserman's most celebrated writing years were 1970 to 1979, when he inherited the late Ralph J. Gleason's column. His columns covered anything vaguely related to entertainment: film, theater, music, comedy, bodybuilding, the evangelist Billy Graham, strippers, flacks, and even live sex shows at the
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and was editor of the school paper, the
Tamalpais News. Never having graduated from college (he attended Whitman College for two years and the College of Marin for a time, crediting it as his best educational experience), Wasserman worked at many jobs including copy boy at the Chronicle before
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from 1964 until the time of his death in 1979. Known more for humor and originality than in-depth analysis, he's best known for his creative reviews of bad films, clever skewering of glitzy performers, and passionate advocacy for those in whose talents he believed.
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on the set of THE ENFORCER. He also did a brief walk-on in the motorcycle film C.C. AND COMPANY. He wrote the first serious review of a male porn film, KANSAS CITY TRUCKIN, for the SF Chronicle.
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A collection of more than 90 of his reviews and columns, and a narrative about his life based on interviews conducted after his death, by his journalist sister,
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Dressed all in black and always in a hurry, with an infectious laugh, he was a highly visible presence in San
Francisco. He was the first person
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Praise, Vilification, & Sexual
Innuendo, Or, How to be a Critic: The Selected Writings of John L. Wasserman (1964-1979)
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Praise, Vilification & Sexual
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was found to be .26, nearly three times the legal limit at the time, and he was driving the wrong way on the freeway.
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Son of a political scientist and elementary school teacher, Wasserman attended
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and was an expert witness in obscenity trials. He served as a stand-in for
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and numerous other celebrities among his friends. He could count
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373:. Chesapeake, Virginia: Harris Connect. pp. xv, 410 pp.
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He died in a car accident on
February 25, 1979, south of
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46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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234:infamous Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theater.
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370:Tamalpais High School Alumni: Today
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55:"John L. Wasserman"
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448:1979 deaths
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259:Bill Graham
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239:Woody Allen
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437:Categories
328:References
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212:Early life
136:1938-08-13
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