What’s the Rush (Limbaugh)?

Commentators are screeching that Rush Limbaugh shouldn’t get an award for a kids’ book he published late last year.  What do you think?

Now, I’m not American, never have been.  I like to think that makes me more objective about U.S. history, politics and political commentary.  So okay, Rush Limbaugh came out with a kids’ book – on that, I’m kind of neutral. 

But when I hear everyone shrieking that he shouldn’t even be short-listed for an award for that same book, yeah, I start getting nervous.

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Two tips for older writers that Keith Richards will probably ignore – but you shouldn’t.

Keith Richards is writing a kids’ book, and frankly, I’m not all that excited.

Certainly, all the headlines make it seem like he’s performing brain surgery:  at 70, the Stones guitarist is a five-time grandfather himself already!  Stop the presses!  Bring in the Dalai Lama or the Nobel committee!

But no, I’m not excited, and it’s not because he’s 70, either.  I think you can write as good a kids’ book at 60, or 70, or 80, as anyone can in their 20s or 30s.  So that’s not the reason I’m not digging Keith’s new project – as I’ll explain below.

It’s true – you can write a great kids’ book at any age, if you keep these two key tips in mind to make sure you come up with something great.  Keith would do well to read these, but I honestly don’t think he will (hint: he’s not really planning to write the book himself).

Two tips for writers of a certain age

Here’s my open letter to Keith Richards, or any older writer:

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