James Andrew Miller is a former television executive and writer whose most recent book (with Tom Shales) is Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Before participating in a panel on the state of television today, he talked about the journal he’s been keeping for decades, his insomnia, and life in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Q. What’s your biggest indulgence?
A. Dark chocolate with almonds.
Q. What question do people ask you most often about ESPN?
A. Do people inside really hate Chris Berman? How did Bill Simmons get so popular? What’s Tony Kornheiser like?
Q. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A. The fact that my children think I’m a good dad.
Q. Who was your childhood hero?
A. Lincoln.
Q. Your first book, Running in Place: Inside the Senate was based on your journals. Do you still keep one?
A. I do, both digitally and by hand. Usually I never go more than four or five days without writing in it.
Q. If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
A. Jicama.
Q. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
A. “Don’t take it personally.”
Q. What do you wake up to?
A. I don’t sleep. I’ve never really learned how to sleep. It’s kind of a waste of time. So I look at the clock and wait ’til the gym opens.
Q. Do you read on a device?
A. I have, but I really like the physicality of books. I listen sometimes to books on tape. I love to listen to Johnny Depp’s recording of Keith Richards’ book, Life. But probably 75-80 percent of the time I’m with a physical book.
Q. How do you describe the area of Pennsylvania you live in (Bucks County) to an Angeleno?
A. The town that I live in, New Hope, is about a mile from where Washington crossed the Delaware. We have the same inn that Washington went to when he was alive-it’s still in operation-and we have two traffic lights.
Q. What are you working on now?
A. I’m working on a new book, a movie, and a TV pilot, and I’m also consulting for a news network for the presidential campaign. Multitasking is my favorite indoor sport.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.