Tim Grobaty

The award-winning, offbeat and always-funny voice of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, columnist Tim Grobaty has been left alone in more ways than one: first to follow his muse, then to see his community of print writers and readers collapse around him. Having started at Press-Telegram when he was still in college and the PT was still a "destination paper" for talented journalists all over the country, Grobaty rose through the ranks of copy boy, news reporter, features writer, music reviewer and, finally, the much-hailed position of columnist. He has won numerous awards, including being named the Best Columnist in the Western United States by Best in the West, and is the author of Growing Up in Long Beach: Boomer Memories from Autoettes to Los Altos Drive-In; Location Filming in Long Beach; and Long Beach Chronicles: From Pioneers to the 1933 Earthquake. In I'm Dyin' Here, his most autobiographical book to date, he tells the inside story of a life lived in newspapers and offers his reflections on the end — both as a person and a newspaperman. A native of Long Beach, Grobaty lives (he still lives!) in the city with his wife, daughter, and two pups.