Philip Roth wrote in to The Atlantic to correct one line in Joseph O’Neill‘s “Roth v. Roth v. Roth,” which says Mr. Roth suffered a “crack-up” in his mid-50s. Actually he just had a nasty psychological reaction to a prescribed sedative.
From his very personal correction: “After knee surgery in March 1987, when I was 54, I was prescribed the sleeping pill Halcion, a sedative hypnotic in the benzodiazepine class of medications that can induce a debilitating cluster of adverse effects, sometimes called “Halcion madness.” At the time it was prescribed post-operatively for me by the orthopedic surgeon, Halcion had already been taken off the market in Holland, Germany, and elsewhere because of extreme psychological side effects leading even to suicide.
My own adverse reaction to Halcion, which corresponded to a clinically well-defined adverse reaction, one that has been exhaustively documented in the medical literature, started when I began taking the drug and resolved promptly when, with the helpful intervention of my family doctor, I stopped.” [The Atlantic]
Speaking of, The Atlantic hired Conde Nast’s corporate sales director, Hayley Romer, to serve as associate publisher. [via press release]
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway will continue buying papers, according to this very touching memo to his editors and publishers. [Romenesko]
So maybe he should help out New Orleans’s Times-Picayune? They’re about to enact major layoffs and will stop publishing daily. [New York Times]
Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes and News Corp.’s COO Chase Carey urged their cable operator colleagues to get online and on mobile faster. [Deadline]
Martha Stewart‘s five year ban from the board of her own company is over! She was named non-executive chairman. [AP]
Tucker Carlson‘s Daily Caller is giving away guns engraved with the Bill of Rights. [Huffington Post]
Tabloid editor turned CNN host Piers Morgan explained phonehacking to Jeremy Paxman in 2002. Oops. [NY Post]
