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Somehow my mom convinced me I was needed at the family reunion, even though I might have known better. So I flew in from Denver and it was one of those glorious Midwestern Saturdays, with startling blue skies dotted by friendly white clouds. At the time, I was reading Jim Harrison’s sequel to Dalva, The Road Home, a fact that would later take on great significance, the kind only English majors can truly appreciate. …

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Business Week's David Kiley recently interviewed Jeff Goodby. Here are some outtakes from their session: Advertising has a responsibility to act like a thing that is going to be unavoidably in the environment, where we live and breathe. And we have a responsibility to make that work in such a way that it is welcomed and not scorned. Creating communication that is welcomed helps both the success of the advertising …

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Former AdCritic editor, Jim Hanas, provides interesting detail on Capote director Bennett Miller—at 39 the youngest nominee for this year's Best Director Oscar. While covering the advertising business, I became aware of Miller because of his commercials. Between The Cruise and Capote, Miller shot more than a dozen campaigns a year, all in a style that might surprise moviegoers. Working through Hungry Man—the …

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Chicago Sun Times is reporting the numbers comedian Bernie Mac is being paid to endorse the Illinois Lottery—$500,000 for about 2-1/2 days of work, or $23,000 an hour. "It certainly makes me pause when I hear those kind of numbers for the little amount of work he's doing," said state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock). "It seems to me we could probably be getting similar results for substantially less …

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Forbes reports that Federated Media locked down a round of funding from Panorama Capital, JP Morgan's venture capital arm. Explaining the deal, FM's John Battelle says: Choosing who you partner with, in terms of finances, is really critical to a business. I chose to partner with someone I've had a long history with, who stood behind me at a really dark hour. I figured, all things being equal, go with somebody who …

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From USA TODAY: Andrew Young, one of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s top aides, a former United Nations ambassador and former mayor of Atlanta, announced last month that he would head a group formed to spread the word about the positive contributions of Wal-Mart Stores. Young says he was drawn to the Wal-Mart venture because the company is creating wealth, especially in rural and inner-city communities shunned by …

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From Lewis Lazare: With the giant $250 million U.S. Army account heading out the door, Leo Burnett is losing one of its high-profile top creatives, Kerry Feuerman, 54, whose stint at the city's largest shop lasted only nine months. On Tuesday, Fallon/ Minneapolis announced Feuerman will become the agency's new creative director, replacing Paul Silburn, who was fired in January after less than a year in the post. In …

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