The Philadelphia Reader

Do you love Philadelphia? Do you love good writing? Well, this is the book for you. It's about the people of Philadelphia—the good, the fine, and the imperfect. Yes, the sports heroes are here—Mike Schmidt, Julius ("Dr. J.") Erving. And the politicians—Ed Rendell, John Street. And the moguls—Brian Roberts, Comcast honcho. And the would-be moguls—Mark Yagalla, world-class embezzler. And so many more, including—writing in their own words—Terry Gross, Patti LaBelle, W. Wilson Goode, Sr., Judy Wicks, Judith Rodin, and Smarty Jones (proving that this horse is no one-trick pony). And so many more—25 of them in all. The people—and the horse—who have meant something to this city during the last 20 years. Ripped from the pages of Philadelphia magazine (well, OK, carefully removed and lovingly pasted into this book), here are profiles of the people who made an era.