Davy Rothbart

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Davy Rothbart is an author, filmmaker, contributor to This American Life, and the editor/publisher of Found Magazine.

Contents 1 Background 2 Radio 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Background

Davy Rothbart's magazine Found is dedicated to discarded notes, letters, flyers, photos, lists, and drawings found and sent in by readers. The magazine spawned a best-selling book, Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World, published in April 2004. A second collection was published in May 2006. The magazine is published annually and co-edited by Rothbart's friend Jason Bitner.

Rothbart, a former Chicago Bulls ticket scalper,^[1] often tours the country to share finds and invite others to share their finds with him. His brother, musician Peter Rothbart, often accompanies him on these tours. In 2004, as he was on a nationwide tour to promote the Found book, he appeared twice on the television program The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.

The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, a collection of Rothbart's short-stories, was published in August 2005 by Simon & Schuster. A shorter version of the same book was previously self-published by Rothbart's own production company, 21 Balloons Productions (named after Rothbart's favorite book, The 21 Balloons, by William Pène du Bois). In 2007, an Italian edition, Il Surfista Solitario del Montana, was published by Coniglio Editore.

When Fred Rogers of the PBS television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood died in February 2003, the New York Times ran an Op-Ed by Rothbart about his childhood encounters with Rogers similar to his story on This American Life. Rothbart also writes for GQ, The Believer, SLAM Magazine, and The Sun.

In December 2006, Geffen Records released Rothbart's documentary film How We Survive about the punk rock band Rise Against on a DVD called Generation Lost. Rothbart and Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath are former roommates.

In the spring of 2008, Easier With Practice, a film based on an article Rothbart wrote for GQ about his life on tour, was shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The movie, written and directed by Kyle Alvarez, stars Brian Geraghty as Davy and Kel O'Neill as Davy's brother, and is expected to be released in 2009.

Rothbart, a graduate of the alternative Community High School and the University of Michigan, lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[edit] Radio

Davy Rothbart's stories were featured on the following episodes of This American Life:

• 184 - Neighbors
• 212 - The Other Man
• 224 - Middlemen
• 239 - Lost in America
• 262 - Miracle Cures
• 306 - Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
• 327 - By Proxy

[edit] External links

• Found Magazine
• 21 Balloons Productions
• Davy Rothbart's Op-Ed tribute of Fred Rogers
• Davy Rothbart on The Late Show with David Letterman (Oct. 2004)
• Davy Rothbart on The Late Show with David Letterman (April 2004)
• PopGurls Interview: Davy Rothbart
• Interview on The Sound of Young America (July 2006)
• Podcast of presentation at Pop!Tech 2005
• Heavy In The Streets Interviews Davy Rothbart
• 20 Questions with Davy Rothbart

[edit] References