Dave Feldman's Biography

Dave had a rather unusual academic life. On the one hand, he was a literature major, with a special interest in heavy Russian writers (e.g., Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, Turgenev), but he was also busy convincing sympathetic professors at Grinnell College (yes, an accredited institution of higher learning) to allow him to undertake independent studies in popular culture (he actually got academic credit for studying what makes sick jokes sick, for compiling a history of rock and roll, and writing about the aesthetics of soap operas).

After winning a Watson Fellowship to study popular culture in Europe, Dave ditched Dostoevsky and went to Bowling Green State University, at that time the only school in the world with a postgraduate degree in popular culture. There, he taught the first-ever college course on soap operas. When he went for the ever-elusive Ph.D at the University of Maryland, the soap opera class became a monster (imagine a teaching assistant with 350 students, a microphone, and a proscenium stage and a bad haircut).

He fled to the Big Apple. Dave consulted for ABC but took a job in the programming department of NBC, where he worked in both daytime and primetime programming. Dave was and is obsessed with television, but wasn't cut out to be a network programmer. Dave saved up his shekels with the intention of embarking on a writing career.

One day, while at the local supermarket, Dave noticed that every cereal seemed to be 110 calories per ounce. Dave couldn't figure out why, for example, Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes, which, after all, is nothing but Kellogg's Corn Flakes with sugar on it, had no more calories than the unsweetened version. A dim metaphorical light bulb shone above Feldman's head.

A few minutes later, at a diner, Dave noticed a distinguished looking gentleman trying to open a four-pack of Nabisco Saltines. Furtively, the man bit open the package with his teeth. If we can put a man on the moon, Feldman wondered, why can't they make a cracker package you can open with your hands? The light bulb flickered once again.

On the way home, the word "Imponderables" popped into DF's head. "Aha," he thought. THIS is a book title. The rest, if not history, has been Dave's work for the last ten years.

Dave lives in New York City. He's single (what woman would have him?) but has many interests besides work to occupy him: tournament duplicate bridge; listening to his massive rock, soul, gospel, folk, and world music collection; searching for good food anywhere; reading; annoying his friends; indulging in all facets of popular culture; and writing autobiographical sketches in the third person.