All you guys who have made that marriage thing work for you have my deepest respect seasoned with a lot of envy. It just hasn't worked out for me, though I am well aware as to why.

Keith, good detective work. Second Helpings was a lot of fun. We actually won an award for some "online food column" category. The week that she was swamped and we decided that I would do the weekly recipe and SHE would review ME turned a corner. A lot of people took to that turning table and I actually developed a fan base where I was getting about 3/4 of the amount of fan mail she was getting. We had a local low-power AM radio station here that did a lot of talk radio and they called the house. She assumed they wanted to interview her and the guy said "Actually I was hoping to reach your husband. With that dry, biting sense of humor he will be radio gold for me." So I did a 60 minute spot, complete with phone calls, and the fan mail increased. When we parted ways I got a lot of "we miss you" email for about 4-5 months. Then, as usual, I became quite forgettable. That marriage was little more than a good idea at the time. Pretty much oil and water. The last 3-4 years was pretty much "on paper only". That was over with "on paper" 16 years ago now, but in practice it was done after 1 year, so 20 years ago. I am not a day at the beach, and she was an overbearing woman with inferiority issues who overcompensated by trying to bully people. I grew up on the inner city streets of Cleveland, and I have never been bullied, though many have tried, so that didn't go well for her.

Were you up this way to get the book signed? I have my doubts that she did a book tour that took her to Alabama.