A dozen years ago, Charlie Moore was a failed businessman. Today he's known as the Mad Fisherman to the 1.5 million viewers a week who watch "Charlie Moore Outdoors" on NESN and "Beat Charlie Moore" on ESPN2.
A resident of Derry, N.H., Moore tells his rags-to-riches story in a new book, "The Mad Fisherman: Kick Some Bass With America's Wildest TV Host" (St. Martin's).
Born in Lynnfield, Moore married his high school sweetheart and worked in his father's cigar shop. Things didn't go well, and he got fired. By then he and his wife had two children. He opened a bait-and-tackle shop in Beverly. That failed. Month after month his mother-in-law bailed the family out. Then Moore decided he wanted to star in his own fishing show on TV, so he talked his way into a part-time gig at New England Sports Network. He is now so successful that he has a third show in development at Fox TV.
Yeti etc.
A quirky, writing-supportive shop called the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute is opening Tuesday at 826 Boston, in Egleston Square. The mock institute with a specialty in cryptozoology is most likely the only place in town where you can buy unicorn tears (wink, wink).
The new shop is modeled after retail outlets selling pirate supplies and superhero accoutrements at other 826 writing centers across the country. The shops provide a creative boost for the 6- to 18-year-olds who frequent the nonprofit writing centers while bringing in revenue. The grand opening on April 12 will feature a tongue-in-cheek North American Symposium on Sasquatch Research. The festivities include author readings, product demonstrations, and silly contests; there's a $20 registration fee. Details at 826boston.org.
Institutional memories
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology holds a special place in Jhumpa Lahiri's heart. Every time she publishes a new book, she gives a reading there. Her father's first job was at MIT, and though he stayed only a year before moving to Rhode Island, the school has made an appearance in each of Lahiri's books: "Interpreter of Maladies," for which she won a Pulitzer in 2000; her debut novel, "The Namesake"; and her second collection of stories, "Unaccustomed Earth" (Knopf), being published Tuesday.
Lahiri, who earned graduate degrees in English literature and creative writing at Boston University, now lives in Brooklyn. Yet Massachusetts locales - from MIT and Harvard to Wayland, Wellesley, and the North Shore - are at the heart of her new book of stories about Indian immigrants. At a reading at MIT earlier this month, there was knowing laughter at Lahiri's description in "Unaccustomed Earth" of a grad student from a wealthy Calcutta family who arrives at MIT. He doesn't know the first thing about cooking and loses a lot of weight during his first month away from home.
Coming out
"The House Always Wins: America's Most Trusted Home Columnist's Guide to Creating Your (Almost) Perfect Dream House," by Marni Jameson (Da Capo)
"Home: A Memoir of My Early Years," by Julie Andrews (Hyperion)
"The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America," by James M. O'Toole (Belknap/Harvard University)
Pick of the week
Dana Brigham of Brookline Booksmith recommends "Mudbound," by Hillary Jordan (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill): "This stunning debut novel takes place in rural Mississippi after World War II. You are truly taken there by Jordan's powerful, evocative writing and complex characters."
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
