: About Me

I'm a Michigan-based freelance writer. My news stories, features, sports stories and columns have appeared in many publications throughout Michigan, Texas and other places-including the San Antonio Express-News. I also have a blog at www.richardzowie.blogspot.com. Writing is my life, and though I'm not wealthy, I wouldn't want to work in any other profession.

My passion is ...

writing. Journalism, columns, blogs and fiction

I know too much about ...

movie trivia

My parents always told me ...

you're a gifted boy, but you daydream too much

My childhood ambition ...

two things: to write books and play running back for my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys

My favorite memory ...

Taking drives through Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado

Why I write ...

to express myself and learn about the world. I do that through writing

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Jerusalem Vigil by Brock and Bodie Thoene

My first job ...

Working maintenance at college

My best moment ...

Finding out that a column about my cousin's heroic death would be posted on Air Force News

My inspiration ...

God, my wife, my kids, my parents, sisters and nephews and nieces, Ray Bradbury (who wasn't afraid to fantasize about "what if" in his stories) and Stephen King (who struggled financially while he was writing and finally made it)

Entertainment > Characters & Personalities Commentary: Why people "hate" Simon Cowell

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Whenever I think of Simon Cowell, I think of the classic case of a man who sees a fly. He forgoes a flyswatter to kill it and opts instead for a sledgehammer. The fly is dead, but far too much force was needed. When evaluating talent, you don't have to be a classless jerk to tell someone that you don't think they have what it takes. Simon Cowell the person I have no opinion of. Simon Cowell the brute-in-residence on American Idol I dislike rather than hate. Some say he's a straight shooter who tells it like it is and gives musical wannabes and never-will-bes a harsh dose of reality check. ...

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