Writers Bill Minutaglio, Michael Hall Unplugged At Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference

The writers who talked at this weekend’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine weren’t stingy with the zingers or the inside dope. Bill Minutaglio, who wrote a book about George W. called First Son, told the assembled that W’s nickname for him was “Mononucleosis.” Not because Bush thought Minutaglio was diseased, but because he couldn’t pronounce the writer’s last name. (Could have been worse; Minutaglio said W called Karl Rove “Turd Blossom” because, when Rove shows up, “s*** happens.”) A little later, Texas Monthly scribe Michael Hall told the great Skip Hollandsworth why he began writing about criminal-justice issues after so many years covering music: “Musicans are basically criminals and scumbags, so there was a connection there.”