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Mike Thomas

Biography

Mike Thomas

Mike Thomas is the author of two critically acclaimed books: THE SECOND CITY UNSCRIPTED: Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater and YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ME: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman. He spent more than 14 years as an arts and entertainment features writer at the Chicago Sun-Times and is a regular contributor to Chicago magazine. He lives in Chicago with his family.

Mike Thomas

Books by Mike Thomas

by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas - Biography, Nonfiction

In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history. In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.” Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, CARSON THE MAGNIFICENT offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.

by Mike Thomas - Biography, Entertainment, Nonfiction

Beloved comedic actor Phil Hartman is best known for his eight brilliant seasons on "Saturday Night Live," but his life was cut tragically short when he was shot to death while he slept by his jealous and intoxicated wife. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ME is both a celebration of Hartman’s multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes troubled life.