Why I keep doing what I do:

“I’ve been a fan of your books for some time now…. I owe my success in financial copywriting [to what] you gave in your books (Great Leads, Copy Logic, etc.) many years ago.” – TY

Re what I said about Carole King in the May 13 P.S.: 

“You really thought her fame was based on her Friends??? And the two guys you mentioned makes me wonder if you are speaking of Carly Simon?” – SH

“Carole King and her husband Gerry Goffin were a hit machine at the Brill Building. She’s not a celebrity; she’s one of America’s best-loved popular songwriters.” – VS

“Did you see the Carole King play? I knew she wrote many songs but I was surprise by how many, how good they were, and who sang them.” – AS

My response: I did have that idea – that her fame was at least partly dependent on the bigger artists she hung with. My point was that until I saw the video I posted, I underestimated her talent and appeal. For example, I remember seeing her do a song with James Taylor, whom I’ve always been very high on. And I thought she was tight with Mick Jagger. But the reader is right. I may indeed have thought that it was she, not Carly Simon, who wrote You’re So Vain. I remember also not particularly liking any of her songs, which may have been the cause of my bias against her. But seeing that video helped me understand that I was both ignorant and wrong.

Re what I’ve been saying about conceptual art: 

“Seeing all conceptual art as fraud is quite a broad stroke… there is much – as in all forms of art – that has validity, and plenty that doesn’t appeal to the masses.” – SH

My response: Yes, quite the broad stroke. And yet, I will make that statement again. Because I’ve yet to see an example of conceptual art that strikes me as anything but conceptually (i.e., intellectually) pretentious. My feeling about art is that pretentious art is, prima facie, bad art. And that plastic artists specifically should avoid dealing with ideas because they are generally ill equipped to distinguish good ones from bad ones.