Steve Stark was in town yesterday, giving his course on public speaking to Portland-area lawyers, and when he was through, he dropped by our house for a few hours before hopping a red-eye back to Chapel Hill. Steve was my roommate at Yale for my one semester there 28 years ago. I don't think I'd laid eyes on him since.

Stark, whose book Meet the Beatles is out there and doing well despite the tons of other Beatle books on the shelves (including a new flurry on the way to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this), is between major book projects. Having just returned from three years living with his family in the English countryside, he is now a confirmed world soccer nut, and he may have something coming out on that. He's also written on the history of television, and I can't imagine that his fascination with American popular culture will ever go dormant.

There isn't much better than dinner with a long lost friend. In this case, we are exactly the same guys we were in '77. Only better.