It’s part of the human condition to tell stories and, often as not, to embellish the ones you hear in the retelling. Sometimes you wonder how information conveyed orally passes on through generations supposedly without loads of changes. So here’s a little story: Years ago, the late comedian Steve Allen would occasionally conduct an informal […]

As a practical matter, maybe Jay Leno isn’t the greatest host ever for NBC’s Tonight Show. Some prefer Johnny Carson or Jack Paar, or even Steve Allen, all of whom are no longer with us. But Leno surely gets decent ratings, usually better than rival David Letterman. But this isn’t a TV column. Instead, I’m […]