Tim Grobaty was promoted to columnist at his newspaper back when it was still a glamorous and coveted job. In I'm Dyin' Here: A Life in the Paper, the author means two things: He'll likely die at the job (unless he lives too long) that he's spent nearly four decades doing, and at the same time his profession, too, is seeing its last days.
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Weaving together personal history and a selection of columns written over the course of his storied career, Grobaty offers readers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a dying breed: the local columnist. With everyday life, fatherhood, holidays, suburbia, and random encounters with animals serving as fodder for his column, Grobaty reveals his sources of motivation and vulnerability, all the while struggling to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing industry.
Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) chose I'm Dyin' Here as his pick for a citywide book club established in the summer of 2016 when he was mayor of the city. He invited residents to read Grobaty's book and then invited readers to join him at a live event at the Beverly O'Neill Theater on Sept. 15 of that year.
"I just loved I'm Dyin' Here," Garcia said, calling it "an honest and extremely funny look at life in the newspaper business and here in Long Beach."
Now an editor for the Long Beach Post, Grobaty's award-winning, offbeat and always-funny column ran in the Long Beach Press-Telegram for decades. Grobaty rose through the ranks of copy boy, news reporter, features writer, music reviewer and, finally, the much-hailed position of columnist.
