War Stories

Inside

WE MET MIKE SAGER IN MEMPHIS. A San Diego Magazine contingent was there to collect our awards at the annual meeting of the City & Regional Magazine Association. Esquire writer-at-large Sager was in Elvis Presley’s hometown to address an editorial session at the CRMA meeting about what makes for a good magazine feature story. When we realized Sager and family lived in La Jolla, the question was not if, but when, we would get his byline in our publication.

It’s here, and it’s now. Look for the excerpt from his new book, Wounded Warriors: Those for Whom the War Never Ends. Sager has interviewed celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Jack Nicholson and been published in Rolling Stone and GQ. Still, he prefers to do what he calls “anthropological journalism,” in which he dives into the lives of everyday characters. He’s lived with a crack gang and gone to school for four months with a 17-year-old. In Wounded Warriors, he finds out what life is like for America’s servicemen injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Sager’s piece is not judgmental. Nor is it political. He presents the inspirational and gritty stories of grunts who are broken and damaged — in body more than spirit — and want nothing more, largely, than to get back with their fighting band of brothers.

In addition to the excerpt, Sager is participating in a live Q&A with San Diego Magazine editor-in-chief Tom Blair the evening of November 5 at the downtown Borders bookstore.

SAGER’S EXCERPT MAY BE APOLITICAL, but we stuck our toes into the election-year frenzy. Contributing writer Terry Leahy weighs in on the beach booze ban, a local issue hopped with controversy. And my Journal column looks at how the presidential election could specifically affect San Diego, and how a swing from Republican stronghold to center-left may be in the cards.

We haven’t forgotten the rest of the San Diego spectrum. Mark Sauer writes about the connection between art and medicine at the Salk Institute. Associate editor Julia Beeson Polloreno uncovers cool boutique finds around the county. And fitness guru Jorge Cruise explains how to eat right — even at fast-food restaurants.

And then there’s our cover boy, Jason Mraz. The North County resident is touring the world. But in Dialogue, he took time out to talk about the success of his new album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., the paucity of vowels in his last name and how San Diego inspires his music. Mraz owns the pop hit single “I’m Yours.” We’re just glad he’s ours.

Tap your toes, and enjoy the issue.

Ron Donoho

Executive Editor

rond@sandiegomagazine.com

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