Strands of Genius: The Man Who's Written A Million Words, The Weird and Wonderful Pages of Public Domain, We Are Not Alone

Guest curated by Marc Hartzman, EVP GCD at Hill Holliday

Oct 05, 2023

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, MARC HARTZMAN ::

LOCATION: New York

Hi, I’m Marc. I’m a New York-based Group Creative Director at an ad agency called Hill Holliday. But I’m also an author, a weird historian, and above it all, a husband and a father.

I’ve been fortunate to make a career out of making stuff. In the past I worked on brands like BMW and IBM, doing everything from award-winning banners to a Super Bowl commercial to a virtual moon experience. I had the pleasure of working with Faris at KBS and always appreciated getting his insights and thoughts on projects. If you’re reading this, you probably already know he’s a pretty smart guy.

I’m happy to still be working on big, iconic brands like Valvoline and Frontier Communications with my team at Hill Holliday. On the side, I’ve written books about sideshow performers, weird things on eBay, ghosts, Oliver Cromwell’s embalmed head, early scientific beliefs about Martians, UFOs, and more. (Let me know if you have any questions.) During the pandemic I started republishing old, obscure public domain books to give them new life. It kept me sane during lockdown. These projects have led me and my family on many interesting journeys. Throughout it all, I’ve been able to watch my two daughters develop their own creativity, which has been incredibly rewarding.

Editor’s Note (Faris): I very much enjoyed working with Marc on BMW — he was an excellent partner and throughly nice chap. He also is amazing impressively prolific outside of advertising and has wonderful and weird interests, all of which no doubt make his advertising even more interesting. Thanks so much, Marc!

:: THE LINKS ::

THE MAN WHO’S WRITTEN A MILLION WORDS

If you're in the ad industry and on LinkedIn, you've probably seen George Tannenbaum's posts. Here's the actual site. He's been writing this every day for more than 15 years. That alone is a feat. But better yet, everything he writes is thoughtful, interesting, and truly well-written. I had the pleasure of working with him at Ogilvy. He's smart, knows the business, and tells it like it is. It's well worth reading his million or more words. (Blogspot)

THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL PAGES OF PUBLIC DOMAIN

Inspiration doesn't have to come from the newest this or the latest whatever. The past is pretty darn inspiring too. Especially when you browse through the wonders and curiosities of Public Domain Review. You can easily get lost in stories that date back centuries, like I just did while writing this and looking at 1896's Early Experiments in X-Rays and 1595's Guide to the Construction of Letters. (Public Domain Review)

WE ARE NOT ALONE

My latest book from Quirk Books explores what has suddenly become a hot topic: UFOs. Ever since the New York Times wrote about a secretly funded Pentagon program to explore unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP -- the new, more socially acceptable term for UFO), there's been less of a stigma around the subject and more interest from Congress to find out what's flying in our air space. The book explores cases and theories that go back to the '40s, and covers a wide range of stories and thinking. I interviewed many ufologists, experiencers, researchers, former members of the military and government, and scientists. Trust me, you'll love it. (Amazon)

Looking for more from Marc Hartzman? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: In the world of video games, I still love Street Fighter II. Also, I've always loved playing Exploding Kittens (card game) with my kids.

:: City :: Edinburgh, Scotland

:: Book :: This is a tough one. I'm going to cheat and offer a few. Victor Hugo is my favorite author, and Les Miserables is such an incredible book (I've never seen the musical) and just so expansive and beautifully written. I also love The Count of Monte Cristo. It's another huge book, but such a fun, sweeping adventure. On the non-fiction side, one of my favorite books in my collection is a 1901 edition of Magic: Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions. It’s a book filled with secrets—each revealing a remarkable level of creativity and ingenuity, not to mention amazing illustrations. And just to prove I'm not stuck in the 19th century, a recent book I really loved is Amoralman: A True Story and Other Lies, by Derek DelGaudio.

:: Podcast :: Criminal. It's been a go-to for years when I'm not looking for a podcast about a specific subject. The stories on Criminal are always so fascinating and well presented.

:: Album :: Permanent Waves by Rush. I've loved it since I was about 15.

:: THE HUMAN FLY ::

This is Aimee, the Human Fly. One of my favorite images from Magic: Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions. This stunt is genius at work.

Thanks for being here,

Marc

marchartzman.com | marchartzmanbooks.com | weirdhistorian.com | curiouspublications.com

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